Mr Somewhere
by Ryo Hoshi
Summary: This is mostly about sleeping dragons... Mostly. Seventeenth chapter. Xelloss and Filia have breakfast, Xelloss gets drunk & has a hangover, and they set out. Finally.
1. Mr Somewhere

This is yet another prologue to another story of mine, this is centered mostly around Filia and Xelloss...and there some supporting cast. But not much.  
It's somewhat out of order, though I guess that fits with the condition of the poor narrators... 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
There is citrus content and there are mature themes (rape, violence) involved in this story. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**Prologue** +===+ **Mr Somewhere**

_A world like tomorrow wears things out  
It's hard enough to get what's yours for now  
And the hardest words are spoken softly  
Softly look, no hands upon_  
-- Mr. Somewhere

Xelloss stared at the ceiling, flat on his back, and wondered what had just happened. He _was_ familiar with one of the primary emotions involved, its taste always having been like strong wine upon him. He had been told it was lust, though he didn't know for sure if it was; lust was supposed to be a positive emotion, not some shade of grey. He hadn't tasted that much of it before, either; usually his presence had acted like a wet blanket upon it, and never had he had so much of it around him, and directed at him to boot.  
This did make a difference: he had long ago realized that emotions directed at him had a stronger taste then emotions directed at the universe in general or at somebody else.  
He had come in planning on taking advantage of that, actually. He had thought that Filia would be incredibly angry at him -- and very embarrassed -- if he woke her up. When he had teleported in he realized that she must have found it uncomfortable to sleep wearing anything, as she was sleeping in the nude. It was also obvious since she had kicked the sheets off her bed already. This was a first, for he had several times teleported into her bedroom at night though nothing unexpected had happened before now. But to Xelloss it seemed all the better: she'd be even angrier, and he did like how her body looked...  
Xelloss looked at her, as he hadn't quite gotten a good look at her sleeping before now as the times before she had woken up soon after his arrival. He enjoyed the faint taste of nightmare-induced negative emotions drifting off of her for a few moments before she sat up in bed, her eyes turned in his direction. Her eyes looked past his own, which were open in surprise.  
"Filia?" he had said, curiously.  
Her eyes had suddenly focused so they were looking into his, and...  
Things then became blurred for a while; he wasn't even sure how long the blur had lasted.  
He could remember the tastes more than anything else... Love and hate in equal parts, both directed at him. Two parts desperation, which always reminded him of ice cream. And four parts of the spicy strong wine taste, which he _knew_ was directed at him.  
There were some other sensations he remembered, most clearly the feeling of getting pulled down into the bed, and his own pleasure... He had no more than a vague idea what caused him the pleasure, though, nor any idea how he managed to become naked... He had the vaguely distressing feeling that he _should_ remember willing his form to appear naked; he had learned how to appear as a naked human, since there were times where that was useful, like when he had gone streaking...or followed Gourry and Zelgadiss to the baths, so he could continue to amuse himself with the chimera's emotions.  
(He still wasn't sure he had gotten it right, though. Every time he had appeared as a naked man, he could feel the jealousy from most of the men he was near directed at himself. He didn't _mind_ it, but he still wondered why.)  
It had tasted good, and had felt wonderful.  
_I wonder if we can do whatever that was again..._ he wondered. 

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As always, comments will encourage me to write faster and (dark) chocolate will encourage my muse to cooperate. 


	2. Loose Joints

There weren't many comments about the prologue of this, sadly, so all I can really do is thank Filia Umbrae and DemonPhoenix9 for their nice reviews and hope that they enjoy this chapter as much as they did the prologue.  
To those of you who read the prologue and didn't review, _please_ review this time! I've been _very_ busy lately, and the only reason this got posted _now_ was because T-sama, my muse, suddenly decided to work on it. I have a college application, and several essays, I should have been working on...  
Reviews will certainly encourage me to take more time away from them to work on something like this. 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**01** +===+ **Loose Joints**

_I don't tell the truth,  
I don't tell lies._  
-- Drugs

Filia yawned, and tried to roll over. There was an indescribable sound, which she rather arbitrarily labeled a squeak, of protest. She opened her eyes and found herself squinting into a pair of wide-open and pleading purple ones.  
She blinked, and then threw Xelloss out of the bed, screaming a lot of things that Xelloss did not feel he had done anything to deserve. He carefully made sure that he stayed between the angry dragoness and her mace, not feeling ready to be hit with it so soon after getting elbowed in a particularly _sensitive_ place and then _**thrown**_ out of a very nice warm bed, and assessed her condition. He soon decided that there was nothing _really_ wrong with her, which was worrisome in and of itself.  
No longer distracted by trying to find some reason for her behavior, he realized that she was lecturing him about 'taking advantage of an innocent maiden' and he grinned, feeling all too tempted and completely justified... "Filia-san, _you_ pulled me into your bed when I came to check on you!"  
"...what?"  
Xelloss posed dramatically, and started overacting to cover his own feelings. "You pulled me, a innocent and virginal mazoku, into your bed and had your way with me!" He had added sniffles where he felt they would be most effective.  
"I thought you were an innocent dragon maiden, and that I would be safe!"  
Filia blinked, her mind starting to catch up. "I...raped you...?"  
"I wanted my first time to be special," Xelloss wailed. There was something incredibly feminine about how Xelloss posed, and about how he wailed it, and Filia tried not to stare. This was a bit hard: Xelloss was _**still**_ naked, so the pose was at least immodest.  
She ended up watching him pose melodramatically as he continued, unable to think of anything _to_ say and finding something fascinating about somebody who was quite clearly a man acting so...effeminate.  
"I wanted it to be romantic... Just me, a pretty blonde, and a bottle of champagne on a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire..." Xelloss sighed. "We'd drink a few glasses of champagne, and then, when the time's just right, look deeply into each other's eyes, and..."  
He froze, _looking_ at Filia but not seeming to see her, and listening to some sound that Filia couldn't hear. Then, suddenly, his eyes lost the faraway look and he said, "You just wanted me for my body, didn't you?" There was something that was a flash of light but not one, and he was dressed. "I'm leaving!" He walked to where his staff lay beside the bed, pausing just beside Filia. "If you had asked...I would have..." he said quietly. Then his staff was in his hands and he teleported out, leaving Filia behind and confused. 

Xelloss knelt before Zelas, and let his irritation show since he knew that Zelas would want to know what happened -- and he felt too embarrassed about it to simply _tell_ her. He was a _powerful_ Mazoku, only under Shabraningdo's three (the dead two not really counting) generals in power! Golden dragons were supposed to _fear_ him, not _rape_ him!  
When Zelas had summoned him, he had been starting to feel a bit better, teasing Filia and pretending that he _was_ only pretending to be hurt, but... It _still **hurt**_, deep inside like an aching wound except it was _worse_ because it felt like it was permanent. It felt like it would continue to ooze for_ever_ without ever turning into less sensitive scar tissue, never even healing a bit...  
"Xelloss-chan?" Zelas asked, in the familiar tone that indicated that he was for the moment to consider their relationship to be that of a mother and child instead of master and servant. "What's wrong?"  
"Mother, I went to annoy the Golden Dragon known as Filia, my usual hobby, and when I arrived in her bedroom she was sleeping, and having a nightmare. She normally wakes up when I appear in her room, no matter how sound asleep she is, and even in when it's very hot she doesn't sleep naked, but even though there was snow outside of her house she was not only sleeping naked but had thrown off all her sheets..." He paused, mentally working out the least embarrassing way to tell the next part. "I was _only_ looking at her, not having realized how strangely she was behaving when she woke up and... She pulled me into her bed and..." Xelloss blushed, at first because he couldn't bring himself to just _say_ it and then blushed even more at the realization that _he_ was _**blushing**_. _I think this must be the most **embarrassing** thing that could **ever** happen to me..._  
"Oh. _Dear_." Zelas's grin completely negated any sympathy that her words might even vaguely imply she might have had for what had happened to Xelloss. "So my little boy's all grown up now...? I didn't think you'd so easily let a nasty Golden Dragon take your virginity..."  
_Oh, Lord, I was wrong. What did I **do** to deserve **this**?_  
"I think her strange behavior needs to be investigated. Why don't you go and watch her? I'm sure you'll enjoy getting to spend time with your lover..." Zelas's grin couldn't have been accurately said to have grown fangs with that, simply because her fangs had been showing the entire time. However, it certainly _seemed_ to Xelloss that was merely a technicality.  
_Lord, **whatever** you're punishing me for, I'm **sorry**!_

Xelloss looked warily at the sleeping dragon. He had managed to delay his return until after sunset, which he hoped would turn out to have been a good idea. So far, the results had been mixed.  
He had not been _hit_ yet, which was good.  
That was because everything was happening almost _exactly_ like they had the night before, which wasn't as good.  
Xelloss carefully placed a hand on Filia's forehead, to see if she was sweating because of a fever, when her hand shot out and gripped his collar.  
_Oh, **no**,_ Xelloss thought as she yanked him into her bed. _Not **again**!_

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Xelloss is _technically_ right, in that he was raped: rape is non-consentual sexual activity. Xelloss didn't get a chance _to_ consent. Therefore, what happened was without his consent... However, he's only really complaining because Filia's reaction is delicious since, as he said, he _would_ have consented if he had gotten a chance to do so. (I suspect he had been planning on inviting her to that bearskin rug on that visit...) 

I've decided to treat as intoxicants for Mazoku certain emotions, like lust. This does work with what is available in English of the canon's meager information on Mazoku biochemistry (or whatever passes for that)... From Xelloss's reactions to positive emotion attacks, it seems that it is more accurate to say that positive emotions simply 'taste' absolutely _fowl_ to Mazoku than to say that they _poison_ Mazoku. If positive emotions poison Mazoku, given how badly they effect _Xelloss_, who is a powerful example of the race, in NEXT and particularly in TRY when they are used against him, then they should _destroy_ less powerful Mazoku.  
The odds of this remaining unnoticed would be rather low, so positive emotions can't present that kind of danger to Mazoku. However, if they simply taste bad to Mazoku, the effects (and reactions) would be roughly the same in all Mazoku. A few might even develop a taste for them -- and be considered to be absolutely out of their minds by the rest of the race...  
Anyways, there are also some emotions that are not really positive or negative. The only one that really matters here is lust, which has been randomly given the rough equivalent effect on Mazoku that alcohol has on humans. Xelloss's gonna be sleeping it off rather regularly... 

Lord is being used as a general invocation of either L-sama or Zelas on Xelloss's part. Which one of them he _is_ invoking usually depends on the context, though sometimes he's invoking both of them and other times it's doubtful that even _he_ knows which one he means. 


	3. Dreams are Like Water

Wow, a lot more reviews this time! Thank you all, this time it's worked, and it's not another half-year between chapters.  
To deal with the reviews in order... First of all, Ludacris and S*N, your questions will be answered here, at least in part. (Well, aside from the question of when this chapter would be out, which is already answered.) Aside from that... Yes, these chapters are short, but they're being written when the muse strikes me (and I do wish T-sama'd stop hitting me _so_ hard) and they're as long as they want to be and no shorter & no longer than that. 

I should admit ahead of time, this part is somewhat influenced by several of Irk's fics. If you haven't already read them, you really, really should. (No, I'm not saying this simply because she reviewed this, I really do mean it -- and I'm very happy that she's reviewed this story.) 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics quoted in this story belong to This Mortal Coil. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**02** +===+ **Dreams are Like Water**

_When you were a child unhappiness took the place of dreams  
Dreams are like water, colorless and dangerous  
Without the strength to love, way beyond fear  
You could care less if you could care at all_  
-- Dreams are Like Water

_Oh, Lord..._ he thought, not sure if that was in thanksgiving or of he was pleading for mercy. The trio of cloth rustling, bed frame creaking, and flesh on illusory flesh filled his ears, with the occasional moans or groans -- his own, Filia's? -- joining in. They, and the emotions that were so thick that they could ice a cake, were intoxicating to him, adding to the disorientation...  
_Think of Zelas-sama,_ he told himself as the memory of last morning, and the thought of the almost-certain repeat of it to come, floated through the chaos the pleasure had turned his mind into, only to have it resolve itself for much, much too long.  
_eeep._ His eyes, open but unfocused and ignored, went even wider, and his pupils turned into pin pricks.  
_**Don't think of Zelas-sama don't think of Zelas-sama don'tthinkofZelas-sama!!!!**_  
Xelloss forced himself to calm down, and forget the image _that_ had produced and only think of the pleasures of the purely sensual aspects of what was happening. _Just enjoy it,_ he told himself. _Don't think about it, don't think about **why**, just...enjoy it._  
_Just forget that she's only using you._ That seemed to work, and not too long afterwards matters reached a mutual climax. She dismounted, not a word said by her, and was soon asleep, leaving him in her arms to brood on why he didn't like this anymore...  
It hadn't mattered the first time that he had not felt any love from her, only lust. But he had not expected her reaction the next morning, not at all. He had thought that she'd remember what she had done, what _they_ had done, not that he'd be hit in a place that was sensitive even for him, and unjustly accused of something he hadn't done.  
The feeling of being _discarded_ was really what had hurt. He was used to being merely used; he could never forget that no matter what, ultimately he was Zelas's to use. But Zelas never made him feel like he was simply a _thing_. She always rewarded him when he had pleased her, always treated him like a good servant. 

Filia slept, and dreamed. Her dreams were the same nightly, a prophetic jumble, confusing and disturbing. She kept trying to grip them, but the images only flowed through her fingers like water, leaving her feeling strange. There were persistent images, though, repeating themselves night after night since the dreams had started.  
The most persistent of the images was that of a tower in a desert, holding a red jewel that was a match of the one in Xelloss's staff, and an aura of ancient betrayal. Other images and emotions also turned up, though not as frequently and without the same feeling of importance. A woman sitting in a throne, smoking, with long, wavy blond hair and bangles, with Xelloss (a young Xelloss, she knew somehow) kneeling at her feet. A man, a Gold Dragon of the Water clan, and a previous Knight of Ceified, with his throat slit and a look of surprise on his dead features. A different man, not completely anything, with long red hair and golden eyes, sitting in that desert tower, its bored lord and master.  
The only thing connecting the images was a voice, golden and black and feminine, telling her _something_ very, very important that she could never remember or hear clearly but left her feeling very much alone and scared.  
The dreams, and the voice, had been getting clearer since they had first started, not so long ago, and the feeling of urgency surrounding them was growing... 

Xelloss tensed up as he sensed Filia start to wake up, and the arm she had at some point during the night looped around his neck tightened. Sometimes, it paid not to have to breathe, but not having to breathe did _not_ mean he didn't feel strangled. Still, it was an improvement over the last time's blow to his crotch.  
That, however, did not mean it was comfortable. He made some pointed some pointed choking noises when he realized that she was in no hurry to wake up. Not only did this seem to only cause the arm around his neck to tighten, her other arm around his waist started to squeeze him uncomfortably.  
She muttered something about a broken squeeker, and opened her eyes. She blinked as her brain processed the meaning of the amethyst eyes looking pleadingly into her own, and then let go of him completely with a blush. "Did I...use you again, Xelloss-san?" she asked quietly.  
"Yes," Xelloss replied, just as softly as she had asked. "You did." He wasn't quite sure what to make of this morning's treatment, though aside from been squeezed he wasn't going to complain about it.  
Filia slipped out of her bed, and silently pulled her robe on. "I'm sorry, Xelloss-san."  
She left, leaving Xelloss lying, stunned, in her bed. He had not really expected her to apologise to him, not after yesterday morning. 

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Well, there's not much I can say in the way of author's notes on _this_ chapter. It's short, transitional, and the middle scene's important to the rest of the story.  
At this point, I can't really promise much, except that eventually the mysteries will get answered, and that while this may get 'darker', it will manage to retain a sense of humor about things. It'd be hard not to, after the places it's found humor so far.  
Oh, and if you're wondering if the song quotes have anything to do with the story... I haven't the _least_ idea if they do or not. Sorry! But they _are_ very pretty songs!  
As always, reviews are adored, and along with bribes of chocolate (dark preferred, milk accepted) will encourage me to try to get T-sama to give me the next chapter sooner. 


	4. Nature's Way

Ah, well, only one review this time to reply to. Thanks, WD, and here's some of what is going to happen. I hope you enjoy it. 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the music of This Mortal Coil. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**03** +===+ **Nature's Way**

_So with the sun there won't be time just to look behind  
There will be reasons not exclusions for my place of mind  
There was so much I was told, it was not real  
So many things that I could not taste, but I could feel_  
-- With Tomorrow

Xelloss sat and thought, while waiting for Zelas to tell him that she was ready for his report. Zelas almost always took his reports in private: she claimed that she didn't think the others would understand why she would allow him to speak in such a way as he often did to her, even though he was a good servant. Xelloss, of course, understood what she wouldn't say: she enjoyed the way he gave his reports, like he was telling a story to amuse her.  
Of course, Zelas's wolves -- which seemed to consider Zelas's private chambers to be their own den, and the Beastmaster's presence to be incidental -- were as always littered all over the floor, and a large black one had settled in his lap. Somewhat automatically, he was scratching behind the wolf's ears. The sweetly sour taste of the wolf's simple physical pleasure matched Xelloss's own thoughts.  
Suddenly, a pair of arms slipped around him in a gentle hug, and a familiar voice spoke softly in his ear. "Xelloss-chan, what's wrong? You don't usually brood..."  
"Zelas-sama, why did you send me back?" he asked in return, leaning against his mother and master and letting her run her fingers through his hair, smoothing it.  
"Xelloss-chan, from all you've told be about that girl, she'd never pull _anybody_ into her bed, and particularly not you. No, _don't_ argue with me about that. She's a very _nice_ girl, and she would ask first." Xelloss nodded as well as he could, since he couldn't argue with that. "For her to pull her into her bed, and have her way with you, means that something unusual is going on. I want to know what this is, before it becomes something important."  
"So I have to be a dragon's sex toy...?" he asked, doing his best to keep from sounding like he was _complaining_.  
"I'm sorry, Xelloss-chan. When you're done this mission, would you like to follow Lina around some more? I know you like doing that..."  
Xelloss sighed. "Yes, Zelas-sama." Even in mother mode, she was his master.  
"Sorry, Xelloss. I need you to do this for me." 

Filia sipped tea in her shop, trying to calm down and enjoy the quiet of the slow season. At its start, she had taken sent Gravos and Jillas away, insisting they take a vacation and had even considered closing the shop up for its duration and taking a vacation herself. She had decided against that, though since the dreams had started she was starting to wonder if she should have chosen to take that vacation anyway.  
_Something_, she thought, _is very wrong with me. I would never have...done **that** with Xelloss, even if he had asked._ She blushed slightly as her conscious reminded her of certain dreams she had dreamt that had involved the purple-haired mazoku. _Why do I keep doing **that**?_  
She finished her cup, and looked at the few stray leaves at its bottom for a few moments as a second question formed itself in her mind. _Why does he keep **returning**?_  
She refilled her cup, and took a few sips as she answered that question: _Xelloss is a pervert as **well** as a namagomi._ She knew that didn't really make sense, since she was the one responsible for what she had done to him, but it was much easier for her to blame him. 

Xelloss cautiously appeared in Filia's bedroom. If he was right, he should have arrived just _before_ she went to bed. However, he didn't trust his experience with her anymore, as he would not have expected her to rape him _twice_ before, either. She could have taken up sleep-walking, too, for all he knew.  
Suppressing slight shudder at his sudden vision of her pulling his clothes off and forcing him down onto the wooden floor of her bedroom, he carefully checked for any sign that she might have already gone to bed, and was relieved to find that her robe and her mace were not there. Xelloss doubted that she'd have taken both with her if she was sleep walking.  
He heard the door swinging open, and he turned to see Filia, hair still wet, in her pink robe and with her mace already out. He smiled -- he knew better than to show fear, _particularly_ when it was something he wasn't supposed to be scared of -- and waved. "Hello, Filia-san!"  
"Xelloss!" She swung her mace at him, and almost managed to connect. "Namagomi! Are you here because you want to take advantage of me _again_!?"  
Yet another swing of hers almost connected, as her victim was still surprised. "Filia-san, what do you mean, _I've_ take advantage of _you_? You're the one who keeps raping me! Why are you blaming _me_?!"  
"If you really didn't like it, then why do you keep coming back?"  
Xelloss caught her mace in mid-swing, his own eyes open and looking into hers. "Because, Filia-san, something's wrong with you, and I want to know what it is." He was certain that saying why he wanted to know would be a bad idea. "I just came here early...to offer myself."  
Filia looked at him, wondering what he was up to. "Offer yourself, Xelloss?"  
"Since we'll end up with me in your bed anyway, I though I'd save us both time..." He let his implied meaning sink in, and then caught her free hand as it came up to slap him. "Besides, maybe you'll not injure me in your sleep if I'm in your bed from the start..."  
Filia sighed. He did seem to be right... "Alright, Xelloss."  
"Thank you, Filia-san," he said quietly and earnestly. He pulled her close, slipping his arms under her robe and around her waist, and kissed her. 

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For some reason, Zelas in this story tends to write herself. She's cooperative, in that she doesn't want to change the direction the story itself is going in, nor does she seem to want to have the story dwell on her even though she's already appeared in it several more times than I had originally thought she would.  
She really does seem to like playing mother to Xelloss, and I'm pretty sure that normally Xelloss gladly plays along and calls her 'Mother'... However, at least this time, he's not that happy with his orders, so he's calling her 'Zelas-sama' even though he does really play along otherwise. Zelas may think of Xelloss as her son, but she is not an indulgent mother to him. 

An attitude of "Somehow it's Xelloss's fault" suits Filia, and admittedly she doesn't know why Xelloss really is returning for more. She also probably still thinks of herself as essentially good, and not somebody who would do cruel, evil things even unintentionally to even those who might deserve them. But, to be honest, I don't know why she does decide to blame him anyway. 

I don't know if any of you were feeling like Xelloss deserved to get to have a say in having sex with Filia or not, but I felt that he deserved to have a little luck after finding himself told that he'd have to be Filia's sex toy for a while. So, he's getting to find out if being fully willing and consenting helps at all. 

Reviews and dark chocolate are highly welcomed, and will encourage me to try to keep on posting new chapters at this pace for longer. I don't mind that much if all you have to say is that you like this or that you hate it but find yourself reading it anyway. (I feel that it's safe to assume that, if you hate this story but you're reading _this_, you're finding yourself reading this story anyway...unless you were here for Xelloss getting raped and don't like him finally getting a chance to consent.) 


	5. Bitter

To start off with, thanks to Yumeko, Nayka Verdandi , Winged Dancer, Xelloss-samaismine, Badgerwolf, Kioku who all reviewed the last chapter... I'm glad that this story, which is being quite intentionally written to reverse roles, is getting so many reviews. I wasn't sure when I started how many people would like this, since Xelloss is so often written as, well, sexually knowledgeable & Filia is written as being rather good and pure so regularly...  
I'm glad you all like Zelas as a mother, as I've been enjoying writing that. The wolves just deserve the detail I give them, because they're a bunch of lovely beasts. No, I'm not just saying that because they'll eat me alive if I did't. Whatever gave you that impression?  
All the questions will be answered eventually. Really. But I wouldn't recommend holding your breath while waiting for Filia to actually apologise to Xelloss.  
Thanks for the chocolate, those who did give me some. (I have no problem with dark chocolate, actually, though I do find milk a bit pale-tasting now.) 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. _Dreams are Like Water_ is copyright I. Watts-Russell / J. Fryer & Momentum Music Ltd. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**04** +===+ **Bitter**

_We cried as we kissed - it was too new  
We died and we lived - it was too new  
Too strong still too much_  
-- Dreams are Like Water

Xelloss sighed, feeling the warm and quite physical body in his arms shift again. He hadn't been able to figure out what of Filia's movements were due to whatever she was dreaming of, and which were due to the fact that she still wasn't used to having somebody else in her bed, no less somebody else who was warm but without breath or heartbeat normally.  
_So far_, he thought to himself, _my idea's been working. I'm in a much more comfortable position than I had been in the last two times, and I had actually got to **agree** to having sex with Filia-chan, with her **awake**, too. This is as close to perfect as this could be without Filia-chan taking up talking in her sleep and telling me exactly what's wrong with her..._  
She shifted again, nuzzling his chest, her arms tightening around him. _Damn. She's not going to..._ He felt her lips gently kissing his chest, getting closer, and closer to his nipples... _Oh, **no**... She **is**..._  
Xelloss resigned himself to yet another round of being used as a sex toy. _She better 'thank' me in the morning..._

Filia yawned, and snuggled against Xelloss. "Good morning, namagomi," she said, the last bit almost being swallowed by a second yawn. "Sleep well?"  
Xelloss moaned slightly. "My night was good, except for the two times you rode me." He paused, and decided that he might as well risk telling her, particularly after being called 'namagomi' almost first thing in the morning. "Filia-san, you're heavy..."  
"What...?" Confusion blossomed, and quickly was consumed by anger. "Do you mean that I'm _fat_, namagomi?"  
"No, Filia-san. You're a dragon." He kissed her gently, not wanting her to get _too_ angry. "If I was a human, I'd be very badly hurt, if not dead. Could you maybe try to be a bit more gentle in your sleep?"  
Filia blinked, as her mind processed that and what he had said earlier, about her riding him twice during the night. "Oh. _Oh._ I'm sorry, Xelloss-san! I hadn't realized..." she said, holding him close to her, but being careful as she did so not to hurt him.  
"That's alright," he said with a smile. "I'm not that badly hurt, and you can make it up to me..."  
Filia started to protest, but Xelloss covered her lips with his own. It was not very long until she was kissing him back very enthusiastically, her protests forgotten. 

Xelloss sipped, contentedly, at his cup of tea. He had managed to settle down on the kitchen's sole chair, a high stool designed for being sat on when the cook was going to be watching a pot for long periods of time. He had chosen it for, more than anything else, the view of Filia's back as she made her own breakfast.  
He was feeling rather content, and in a contemplative mood. Filia's emotions when she was willingly having sex, or at least awake during the act, tasted different from the times when she was half-asleep for it. When she was awake, her emotions were just as strong, but even _more_ focused on him. The mix itself was different, too: one part the bitter and sour citrus flavor of love, four parts the spicy and intense wine he had decided was definitely lust. There were a few traces of negative emotions, but they were undertones, not strong enough for him to identify through the dominant mix of love and lust.  
He wondered if Filia knew how she felt about him yet. He hadn't expected it, quite, until he had offered himself up to her willingly. He didn't know why she might feel that way about him, either, since she was _supposed_ to hate him simply because he was a mazoku.  
_Maybe Zelas-sama was right about there being something very wrong with Filia-chan_, Xelloss finally admitted to himself. "Filia-san?"  
She turned, looking at the mazoku perched on her kitchen stool curiously. "Yes, Xelloss?"  
"How do you feel about," he paused delibrately, "me?"  
Filia blushed, her entire face going red. "I feel like I'm supposed to feel about a namagomi mazoku like you."  
Xelloss smiled slightly, and wondered if she considered 'namagomi' an endearment. 

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Xelloss probably should take being called a 'namagomi' as a complement. Raw kitchen garbage is one of the most easily obtained forms of rotting organic matter, and is quite useful when conducting primative biological warfare. A bit of rotting organic matter in a wound almost always results in the wound becoming infected.  
As primative biological warware methods go, it's almost as good as the dead-body-in-water-supply or the infection-carrying-trade-goods methods. 

This chapter is a bit short, due to the last scene wanting to be the last scene, and, well, making that scene longer would have been padding. But, for the curious, below is what would have been the rest of the scene:  
Xel> ::sip tea:: Fi> ::cook:: Xel> ::sip tea:: Fi> ::serve herself at kitchen table:: Xel> ::sip tea:: Fi> ::eat like a starving dragon:: Xel> ::sip tea, not letting his amusement show...much:: 

I've finally managed to track down the proper information for the lyrics. Some of these songs were not originally done by This Mortal Coil, though their version is the one I am most familiar with and am first aware of hearing.  
The lyrics quoted in the prologue are from _Mr. Somewhere_. The original version by The Apartments, and is copyright P. M. Walsh & Complete Music Ltd.  
The lyrics for the first chapter are from _Drugs_. The original version by Talking Heads, and is copyright D. Byrne & E.G. Music Limited.  
The second chapter's quoted lyrics are, like those of this chapter, from _Dreams are Like Water_. It was copyright I. Watts-Russell / J. Fryer & Momentum Music Ltd. then, too.  
Quoted in the third chapter is lyrics from _With Tomorrow_. Its original version is by Gene Clark, and is copyright Clark / Davis & Rondor Music (Londod) Ltd. 


	6. Ruddy and Wretched

Thank you, WD, Kioku, and Ludacris for reviewing...  
To WD: I don't know, actually, exactly how it would feel for Xelloss if it was significantly more love than lust or any other negative or neutral emotions. It's rather like lemon juice: a little tastes good, but a lot is hard to stomach for most people.  
There are wolves in my area of the country, or rather they've been released into the wild. I may have seen one, actually, in the wild. It looked miserable, the poor thing. (I love wolves. Normally, they're lovely creatures.)  
To Kioku: Well, all these chapters are only as long as they want to be, and no longer. On Filia being nicer to Xelloss, you're welcome.  
To Ludacris: Thank you _very_ much for the complement. I work rather hard to keep the citrus from getting smutty; smuttiness would not suit this story in the least besides not being that erotic. (My goal is to have the citrus in this story as erotic as possible, while staying within FF.net's rules and in the bounds of good taste.) 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. The original version of _With Tomorrow_ was performed by Gene Clark, and is copyright Clark / Davis & Rondor Music (London) Ltd. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**05** +===+ **Ruddy and Wretched**

_It was more like a dream than reality  
I must have thought it was a dream while you were here with me  
When you were near I didn't think you would leave  
When you were gone it was too much to believe_  
-- With Tomorrow

Xelloss found himself cuddling one of Zelas's wolves, which he recognized as the one he had been scratching behind the ears the day before. After he had asked Filia that question, neither had spoken. Aside from the sounds of her cooking and eating, and his sipping his tea, they had sat in complete silence until Filia left, just as quietly, to go open up her shop.  
Xelloss had been left in her kitchen, with only the drip of water onto her dishes in the sink for company. He had finished his cup of tea quickly, and then headed back to Wolf Pack Island to report to Zelas.  
However, none of this explained to Xelloss exactly _why_ he was now cuddling one of his master's wolves. Beastmaster didn't really _dis_approve of him being affectionate to her wolves, but he had always felt a bit awkward about it. He could barely remember the last time he had actually _cuddled_ one of them.  
The wolf he was cuddling started washing his face, and Xelloss suddenly remembered _exactly_ when he had last cuddled one of the wolves. It had been back when he was a young mazoku, when he had always called Zelas 'Mother' and _just_ before he was sent on his first true mission for Zelas and the only one he had never managed to complete.  
There was light, cheerful laughter from behind him. Xelloss looked up to see Zelas, cigarette in hand, laughing at the sight of her priest and one of the most powerful mazoku around getting licked by a wolf. "It's been a long time since I last saw you doing this, Xelloss-chan," she said with a smile as she sat down beside him and started scratching behind the wolf's ears.  
"Mother, I thought I'd take the time to report back to you, while Filia-san's busy with her shop," Xelloss started, not quite noticing that he was once again calling her 'Mother'... It just felt right, sitting there with a wolf draped in his lap and her beside him. 

Filia sat and sipped tea in her shop, her thoughts only occasionally being interrupted by a customer. She did not _feel_ like she had woken up yet, and the feeling had gotten worse since Xelloss had left, or rather since she had left Xelloss behind. Xelloss had always had the effect of a small rock in her shoe, making her feel more awake and aware than she had any right to be. The tea wasn't anywhere near as good as simply having Xelloss around.  
Not having Xelloss around also gave her the chance to feel guilty about what she had done the night before and that morning with him. She could, though with some effort, rationalize away the times when she had, in her sleep, used him for her own pleasure. The real problem was that the two times she had _agreed_ to perform _that_ act with _him_.  
She had already been in dangerous moral ground before, when she had simply been _interested_ in him sexually. Filia had been taught that sexual desire for another of her race or a suitable elf, and in very rare cases a human, was fine as long as it was not acted upon outside of a proper marriage, with the ceremony performed by a priest of the Fire Dragon King. To even feel such desires, however, for _any_ of the Mazoku was a terrible, sinful thing.  
The fate and condition of a dragon who _acted_ on such a perverse desire had, apparently, been too horrible for words. Filia's teachers, who took an almost mazoku-like delight in describing in fine detail the punishments both in this life and the afterlife of those who transgressed against all the other rules had always, _always_ said so. That, as the last of her clan, she was probably quite safe from being punished by her clan for such an atrocity didn't quite make up for the dread.  
It did not help in the least that, on top of everything else, her dream had started becoming much clearer. She could sort the images into three main groups according to their general time period now, though she didn't know what order each image took within its group.  
The first group was that of the far past, just before the Demon King of the North had appeared and the Water Dragon King's demise. The image of the dead Knight, which had been joined by an image of him alive with companions, belonged to that one, as did the one of Xelloss and the blond woman. She knew that these were important, because they were behind her goal being what it was and part of its cause.  
The second group belonged to the present, of images of the tower in the desert and of the red-haired and golden-eyed man who ruled over it and the jewel that lay within. Now, she could see that he had servants, creatures of solid shadows shaped _almost_ like humans, dogs, horses, and mixes of the three. The place called to her, and the voice was clear that she was to go there and perform some kind of task.  
The last set of images were new and of the future, and while they were not very clear at all, their message was quite clear. All of them were about destruction, and while Filia could not make out the specifics, such as why the tower and its treasure were important or what she was to do, she knew that failure carried a horrible price.  
On the other hand, she might get away with having made love to Xelloss if the world was destroyed, but she doubted that would be a good reason _not_ to save it. 

"...and then I came back here, to report to you, Mother," Xelloss finished. While he had told his story, Zelas had finished several cigarettes and the wolf had fallen asleep in his lap, head hanging into Zelas's lap.  
It was, really, almost comfortable.  
The Beastmaster took a long, thoughtful drag on her cigarette before speaking. "So you can taste in her emotions love -- _romantic_ love -- directed at you, but it doesn't show in her behavior and she did not say anything about it when you asked her about her feelings?"  
"Yes, Mother," he replied, wondering why she was asking that.  
"You might consider trying to get her to admit to those feelings." She paused. "Xelloss-chan, _do **not** even consider trying cooking anything for her_."  
Xelloss sweatdropped. _Zelas-sama **still** remembers **that**?_ "Yes, Mother. I won't."  
"_**Good**_." 

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I do not think all the clans of golden dragons are alike in philosophy, and given that the ones seen in NEXT and TRY look physically different I tend to treat them as different races of the same species.  
At least here, the clan that follows the Fire Dragon King are being treated as being very _formal_. They're not exactly religious to me, since I doubt that the Fire Dragon King himself would have approved of what examples of their behavior were given in TRY. They don't actually worship their god as much as they worship the forms and the ceremonies.  
Basically, they don't actually care if you _really **believe**_ or not as long as you perform all the ceremonies and outwardly observe the taboos. It's a very hollow thing: they don't actually care if you choose to act in the spirit of their professed beliefs. If you, like the Ancients, do not follow the proper forms they will persecute you.  
(Side note: I am of the belief that only the followers of the Fire Dragon King were actively involved in the slaughter of the Ancients. I also suspect, from the flashback in NEXT, that only the followers of the Water Dragon King actually _fought_ the Mazoku in that war, but that's for another time.)  
Anyway, they place the most emphasis on having the proper person preside over any ceremony. If the priest happened to recite, say, the lyrics of baudy ballads with the utter and complete conviction that they _were_ the words of the ceremony, or was a bit on the dead side... Well, if he was high-ranking priest such minor problems would be overlooked. 

Comments, questions, and dark chocolate are welcomed and found very encouraging. 


	7. Filigree & Shadow

I hate power outages...I'm using a library computer (so no spellcheck) and there no reviews for the last chapter. Still...I'm uploading this one. 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. _Morning Glory_'s original version was performed by Tim Buckley, and is copyright T. Buckley, Carlin Music. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**06** +===+ **Filigree & Shadow**

_I lit my purest candle close to my window  
Hoping it would catch the eye of any vagabond that passed it by  
And I'm waiting in my fleeting house  
Before he came, I felt him drawing near  
As he neared, I felt the ancient fear  
That he had come to wound my door and jeer  
And I waited in my fleeting house_  
-- Morning Glory

When Filia closed up her shop, she discovered that it had gotten colder during the day. The entire day had been cloudy, with wind blowing, and never _warm_, but somehow between when she had opened up her shop and then it had gotten worse. The clouds, once crisp and white, were now gray and heavy with precipitation. The wind, which had been a gentle breeze in the morning, was now blowing in earnest. The morning had been cool, but now it was cold and she could see her breath.  
The change in the weather made Filia smile softly. Wintry weather caused her business to be much better, as people came looking for presents to give during the Winter holydays. The two beastmen who had come with Val would soon be returning, and she'd not be alone with Xelloss so much. (Val, still an egg, was not company. He did make a decent night light, though.)  
Filia walked home quickly. The house was completely empty when she arrived, and somehow she found the lack of Xelloss's presence disappointing. She knew she hadn't really expected him to be there, waiting for her, but...  
She shut the door, automatically turning the lock. Jillas and Gravos would be back as soon, and hopefully she'd regain her senses. _I should **not** be missing that namagomi!_

Filia finished putting her freshly-washed dishes in the drying rack, and pulled out a white pillar candle and an old, chipped saucer. Going into her parlor, she put the saucer down on the ledge of the window beside her front door, and carefully place the candle in its center. She used a small fire spell to light it, and sat down in the comfortable chair positioned so that, during most of the year, it would be well-lit by the window.  
On the side table lay a book with a polished and inlaid wooden box on top of it. Filia slipped the book out from underneath the box, and sprang the box's hidden catch with deft fingers. Inside of the box was a well-loved and well-used set of artist's pencils, mostly in shades of grey but a few colored ones, well-worn erasers, and a pencil sharpener. She chose one of the grey pencils without looking at them, her eyes focused on the pages of the book -- a sketchbook -- as she turned them, looking for a blank page.  
Most of the sketches were of pottery, and of designs for painting on pottery. She had taken up making, and later on painting, her own pottery not long after opening her shop. Antique vases brought in a lot of money, but _only_ when they sold and often she found herself not having quite enough income to maintain her stock. Somehow, it had simply seemed natural to start selling tea sets. The potter who had made the first tea sets Filia sold had been a friendly young widow, who had taught Filia the craft and when she had remarried she had given Filia her old house with the small pottery workshop.  
Filia had been grateful. She had been starting to suspect that Jillas was sometimes forgetting to knock on her door before entering on purpose, and besides that she had discovered that the living quarters above the shop were too small. Being able to work with the clay whenever she felt the need to was wonderful, too; something about making things out of the clay made her feel relaxed and content.  
Some of her drawings, however, were not designs to be formed in the clay or painted onto things. They were of other things, like of Val in his egg or Endymion, a large calico cat that had come with the house and was always sleeping whenever Filia saw him, taking a nap in a sun puddle. On the blank page she found, she started sketching out roughly the form of a man lying down with a sheet partially draped over him. 

Filia sensed Xelloss before she heard his voice, right behind her ear. "Your drawing's lovely," he said in his smooth voice. She put the pencil she had been using to color the man's hair in down in its place in the box and turned to look at him.  
Xelloss looked at her, eyes open and his arms full of sleeping cat. "I suppose I don't have to ask if you missed me." He grinned.  
Filia looked from the man in the sketch to the real thing. _I better change the subject_, she thought to herself as she blushed. "Are you here to offer yourself to me again?"  
"Well, it _does_ look like you think I look good in your bed..."  
Filia blushed, and looked at her sketch. It was a particularly good drawing of Xelloss, just as he had looked like when she had finally left her bed to get dressed... He had looked like a lazy wolf, the sheets draping over his hips and little else of him, and his closed eyes watching her...  
And she could hear small, somehow _cute_ little snores. She looked at Endymion in Xelloss's arms at almost the same time Xelloss did. They sweatdropped together as they realized that yes, the cat _was_ snoring.  
"Let's go to bed, Xelloss." Filia quickly put her art supplies up, leaving them in almost the same positions they had been in before, and picked up the saucer holding the candle. "I hope I can trust you to put the candle out after I've fallen asleep," she said, turning in time to see Xelloss nod and put Endymion down in her just-vacated chair. 

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I had to explain why Filia wasn't living in her shop; it's not been really that long since it was not _ab_normal for a shop's owner not to live over or at least behind his or her store. It made sense that she would move out if she got a chance to, though, and couldn't easily come up with a reason not to move.  
On the rest: I just liked the idea of Filia drawing and making pottery, even though there actually isn't reason given in the canon to see her as being creative. It seemed, to me, right somehow for her to take up creating things. Endymion, the eternally-sleeping cat -- well, okay, so he does probably wake up to use his litterbox and to eat, but I'm not sure he doesn't do those things while asleep -- is there because he's cute. 

Reviews are very much welcomed, and will make me feel that the effort I've gone to in order to get this chapter written are worthwhile. Dark chocolate with the reviews will encourage me to use what time I can beg, borrow, or steal to get on a computer to get the next chapter ready and up. Endymion will reappear for cat treats. 


	8. Several Times

Yaii, so many reviews from Lauren-sama! I'm going to _have_ to put my replies to them at the end!  
Someone, thank you _very_ much for both the review and the dark chocolate. I make an effort to write this well because much of this is more on the poetic/emotional side than prose/thinking side; someday I may end up writing a paper on that whole aspect of storytelling. Don't worry, Filia's behavior will eventually be explained. (By the way, your English isn't horrible. I have seen much, much worse.) 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. _Late Night_ was originally done by Syd Barret and is copyright S. Barrett & Lupus Music Co. Ltd. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**07** +===+ **Several Times**

_Inside me I feel, alone and unreal  
And the way you kiss will always be  
A very special thing to me_  
-- Late Night 

Xelloss carefully extracted himself from Filia's embrace again. She had been sleeping restlessly, not like she had been the other nights, and had been more inclined to cuddle him than anything else while asleep. Whatever mood it was that had brought on the strong flavor of desperation in bed before she had fallen asleep seemed to have carried over into her sleep. She kept mumbling, too, though Xelloss could never make out what she was saying.  
He carefully gathered Filia into his own arms, pulling her against him. _I'm not doing this because I...feel anything for her, I'm just doing this so I have a better chance of hearing her clearly..._ He gave the flesh under his hands a gentle squeeze, enjoying how her breasts felt under them. _And I can enjoy this, too_, he thought with a grin.  
Filia twisted in his arms once again, this time bringing her arms up and entangling her fingers in his hair. She pulled his face downwards, tilting hers up so their lips would meet, and Xelloss realized that her blue eyes were open, though unfocused.  
Then her lips were on his, kissing him passionately and insistantly, and he quickly found himself giving in and not caring at all. 

By the time he could think coherently again, it was completely over. Both were sweaty, and breathing hard (for their respective species) and Xelloss could feel the tiredness and satisfaction with just the slightest touch of dull pain radiating from the almost-asleep dragon snuggled up close beside him.  
Xelloss felt too numb to actually taste Filia's emotions. It had been _good_, though also frantic and confusing... He couldn't remember, and didn't really care, which of them had taken it past simply kissing. He had left her bruised, from the force of his kisses and from the not-so-occasional nip, but he didn't feel any guilt because she would have done the same to him if he wasn't a mazoku.  
Then, when they mutually decided that they had had enough of simply kissing, biting, and rough caresses, then... Xelloss smiled lazily at the memory of _then_.  
Xelloss thought that, while they were pushing against each other's body, trying so hard to find satisfaction, Filia had begged him to give her proof that he was _there_ with her, and that she wasn't alone and was _real_... But that wasn't likely. Even less likely to him was the idea that he had begged her for anything in return, no less that he had begged her to tell him that he was loved by her, and valued, and not being used and thrown away...  
It was completely impossible that either had answered in the positive, just before everything went a very, _very_ brilliant white and life, such as it was, felt _incredibly_ wonderful.  
_So..._ Xelloss thought to himself. _**That**'s what rough sex is like..._

Filia groaned. She felt sore, though she could barely remember why, and had not slept well at all. She didn't want to have to open her eyes, but they drifted open anyway. She looked at the mostly-white sheets for a few seconds, her mind muggy.  
_Dark red and inky black spots...?_ she thought to herself.  
Xelloss had trouble not giggling as he tasted the bright candy-like flavor of Filia's utter and complete surprise as well as feeling her physical reaction. He'd have had trouble _not_ knowing, as he had managed to get her back close to his chest, with her head tucked under his chin. Her little jump had done interesting things indeed, too. "Good morning, Filia!" he said brightly.  
"Good morning, namagomi..." _How **dare** he be so cheerful...?_  
"You'll be glad to know that we only had sex once tonight, but it was _**really**_ good sex," he somehow managed to chirp. "You really do know how to make a mazoku happy!"  
Filia growled, and elbowed him in the ribs. He countered with a few pinches that, incidentally, finished the flower pattern of bruises on her breast. She went in to retaliate with a few strategically placed nips, and they soon were tangled up together in a minor scuffle that seemed to be now over who got to be on top.  
Before they found out the results, however, there was a loud, wooden crack and they tumbled onto the floor, Filia's bed frame broken. Filia yelped as her bottom hit the cool, almost cold wooden floor. Xelloss made a noise very, _very_ much like the one he had made first thing in the morning, the first time she woke up with him in her bed, as his face landed between Filia's breasts and his hips hit the floor between Filia's legs.  
Filia sweatdropped. "I'm going to have to get a new bed today..." Xelloss moaned into her breasts what might have been a reply to _that_. "Could you please get off me? Please?" 

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Well, this is really more of an interlude than anything else, though it does have a relationship to the plot. (See the next chapter once it's up for details.)  
I will admit, I'm not at all sure why they didn't manage to break Filia's bed earlier. It must have been really sturdy.  
I'm really sorry about hurting Xelloss at the end of this chapter the way I did. Well, alright, I'm not sorry about that at all. I did it because it had to be done. Really. 

To start with, Lauren-sama's reviews are quite extensive for the five chapters she reviewed. If you're still reading, Lauren-sama, thank you.  
To the first two reviews:  
I will admit that I chose to write Xelloss the way he is in this story _because_ he is portrayed as a (stereotypical) sadistic psycho or as a, well, hopeless romantic much too often. I am not denying that he is a mazoku, and thus eats others' negative emotions to survive. However, that does not make him a sadistic psycho unless you want to apply pretty much the same terms to anybody and everybody who eats meat since anything with two brain cells to rub together can feel pain.  
As for this being romance... I have no idea. Maybe it is. There's a reason why this has no genres yet.  
To the third one:  
Thank you. I will be fleshing out the dream soon, and of course this story seems to be mostly about the sensory details. As for the identity of the tower's master, you guess well. (I will not say that you are right or wrong, but I will say if you're wrong you aren't off by much.)  
By the way, part of why I did fill in on Xelloss's emotional state (and the reasons behind it) was because I realized when I was writing that chapter that I really should have done so already.  
To the fourth review:  
I like Filia, and I like Xelloss... I do my best to write them as IC as I can, and to not bash them. I may put them through hell, but I will do it lovingly!  
Everybody seems to like Zelas's motherly aspect. We will be seeing more of it. She seems to be enjoying being in this story.  
On the last of Lauren's reviews:  
Funny, to me you seem quite good at getting to what is at least a rather close to right answer from minimal evidence.  
I'm glad you liked the almost-fluff; most of this story will have bits and pieces of almost-fluff. I won't have any full-fledged fluff, though, in this one simply because Filia would end up being very, very worried about poor Xelloss's health.  
So, for Xelloss's sake, no full-fledged fluff. (Be kind to mazoku!) 

Reviews and dark chocolate would be really enjoyed and will be found encouraging. Please give me both, though if you can only provide one, please send reviews instead of dark chocolate. 


	9. Dreams Made Flesh

Since I have limited time to do the usual author's notes, I'm going to provide full replies to Lauren-sama's reviews (because there's been two reviews from her since the last time) and speed through the rest.  
(Sorry 'bout this: I've been dealing with renewing Ainself this week, and been very busy yesterday and today at a con. I've been enjoying the con, though.) 

Thank you very much, Lauren-sama, for your reviews for the 6th and 7th chapters... (I suppose that I am probably right in thinking that the 5th chapter has no reviews now because FF.net eats them.)  
Anyway, part of why I had to include the line about Val serving as a night light _was_ because it plausible. (The rest is because it was funny.) I make an effort to nicely portray Filia; she's really a nice chara, and I don't hate her or anything. She's just awkward to write sometimes.  
The sex scenes are intended to be poetic, and I'd be rather unhappy if they came off of gratuitous because they'd then not fit in the story at all. (I also like Xelloss's 'uber-genki' periods, and knew that Filia at least would not be in the mood in the morning.)  
Oh, and thanks for the chocolate! 

And now, for the speedy replies to the rest of the reviewers:  
Kioku, I didn't know that I actually bothered planning my stories as much as I just remember to go back regularly and read what I've already written. Saki, I've always preferred role reversals with Xelloss and Filia, and, well, I wonder what you'll think is causing Filia's 'episodes' after this chapter. Ludacris, thank you _very_ much, I make an effort to keep Xelloss and Filia's intimate scenes funny because it makes them much easier for me to write. T, I'm sorry, thank you for reading and reviewing anyway. Lady Deathscythe, I missed you. 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. The original version of _Fond Affections_ is by Rema Ream, and is copyright Rema Rema & Beggars Banquet Music. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**08** +===+ **Dreams Made Flesh**

_There's no light at the end of it all  
Let's all sit down and cry  
There's no light at the beginning  
Let's all sit down and cry_  
-- Fond Affections

Filia sighed as she realized that Xelloss was not feeling inclined to move. "Come on, Xelloss-san... You can't be that badly hurt!" He carefully shifted, nuzzling her.  
"Filia-san," he said in a serious and strained tone, "I may not be sympathetic for those who get hurt, but that's _not_ because I don't feel pain myself. Right now...I am in _**pain**_."  
"But...you're not injured...?" she asked, cautiously and a bit worried.  
"If you mean, 'Will you be able to get it up tonight?' the answer is," he blushed slightly, "I hope so. Can I help you look for a new bed?" _It would be **very** embarrassing to be seen by other mazoku walking funny_, he refrained from adding.  
"It might be easier with you there," she admitted. "I was thinking of getting a bigger bed, a sturdier one, and maybe it could be reinforced with a few spells..." she said, shyly.  
Xelloss chuckled, the sweet, honey-like taste of her shyness delightful. "One I could tie you down on, Filia-san?"  
"Xelloss!" she said, shocked and blushing both at the idea and at the thrill the idea gave her. "That's dirty, perverted...!"  
"No, that's what _you_ do to _me_ is... I just want to tie you down at night for my own protection."  
"Do you mean that you don't enjoy having sex with me, Xelloss?" she said, rather _too_ sweetly. "And don't you dare dodge that question, or tell me, 'That is a secret,'" she added while slipping a hand under his hips to curl around a certain part of his form which he had become recently _personally_ aware of the sensitivity of, "or you will _pay_."  
Xelloss looked up at her face, his eyes wide. "You're a wonderful, noble, kind, and _gentle_ dragon lady, and I am very, _very_ grateful that you permit me to lie with you," he said, sounding _very_ earnest. "_**Please**_ don't hurt me!"  
Filia smiled, and let go. _Thank you, Lord!_ Xelloss thought, and scrambled to get off her, not even trying to hide the fact that the area between his legs hurt. With a thought, he was clothed. "I'll go make tea for us while you get dressed, Filia-san," Xelloss said and teleported out before Filia could protest. 

Xelloss held, carefully one end of the iron bed frame while Filia worked to get the other end in the right place. The new mattress, large enough for two, leaned against the wall. The remains of her old, wooden bed had been removed, broken up for firewood, and its mattress taken to a spare room she said she had been planning on turning into a guest room.  
It seemed like the best time to ask the questions that had been bothering them ever since they had gone to the store where they found the iron bed. "Filia-san," caution firmly residing in his voice, "why did you react so strangely when the sales clerk assumed that we were getting married?" She had _not_ reacted with anger or offense as he had expected; instead he had tasted the distinctly warm and comforting flavor of sorrow in her emotions.  
Filia blushed slightly, lowering her end of the frame to the floor. "I can't get married."  
Xelloss looked at her, confused. "You can't get married? But I thought that you no longer had to remain a maiden, now that you retired from being a priestess of the Fire Dragon King..."  
"My people insisted that we could not get properly married unless the ceremony was performed by a priest of the Fire Dragon King," Filia replied primly, though Xelloss could taste sorrow from her again, this time with a warmly spicy touch of regret.  
Xelloss couldn't help being amused by the irony, though. "Oh, dear, Filia-chan! I guess we'll just have to live in sin!" he said cheerfully as he grabbed one end of the mattress and Filia took the other and started to put it on the bed.  
Filia _blushed_, realising the implications both of what she had said, when she had said that '_we_ could not get properly married,' and of what _Xelloss_ had just said. "Yes, we will." She let go, and the mattress dropped into place, Xelloss somehow having manage to let go at the same time.  
"Why don't you go take a bath, Filia-san, while I make the bed?" he said softly. "I promise to do a good job, no short-sheeting you or anything, and I won't tie you down...unless you'd like me to..."  
"Xelloss..." she said, wondering why the mazoku was making such an offer to her.  
He wondered himself, but he didn't want to take the offer back. "Just go ahead..." he said, tasting his own emotions. It something only done when either starving, and surviving to suffer the consequences of eating one's own emotions was unlikely, or (like now) when a mazoku was unsure of what his own feelings were. To his dislike, but not surprise as he had somewhat expected it, the distinct flavor of love for the dragon was present. _Damn_.  
Filia, not knowing what to make of Xelloss's expressions, left quickly. 

Filia returned to find the bed carefully and quite neatly made, and Xelloss already lying in it, his back to the door and her. She quietly draped her robe on the back of a chair which Xelloss must have moved into the room from the future guest room, and slipped into the bed. The sheets softly rustled as she snuggled up close to Xelloss, slipping her arms around his waist and enjoying the feeling of his bare skin against her own.  
"Xelloss-san? Are you...are you up to doing anything before we go to sleep?" Filia blushed, too shy to phrase her question in less euphemistic terms and feeling daring enough simply _asking_. She not quite realized, before the sales clerk had asked her and Xelloss if they were getting married, that she could never get properly married. She hadn't really wanted to accept that her only options had been to either remain virtuously chaste and virginal until she died or to live in sin should she find a mate. Now, she had unexpectedly found herself taking the second option, and not knowing if she liked it or not.  
Xelloss sighed, with possibly overdramatized regret. "No, Filia. I'm still recovering from having tried to mate with your floor. I don't know why, either, since...I usually recover faster than this," he said, somewhat embarrassed. "Maybe it's because that...guise was developed later than my usual one, with a little more attention to anatomic detail..."  
"What do you mean, Xelloss?" Filia was curious, and not even trying to hide it.  
"Well..." Xelloss thought about how to answer Filia's question. It would not hurt to be honest; it wasn't like the answer was a _secret_ of the Mazoku, it just was something that couldn't easily be explained to beings whose form was not like theirs. "A form other than the natural form of a mazoku -- the one we were created with -- needs infrastructure so that the outside appears right. Without it, the outer surface of the secondary form would look like a low-quality golem that's been painted. I took advantage of the fact that clothing can cover for a lack of infrastructure when I created my usual guise..."  
Filia looked at the back of his head thoughtfully. "You must have spent a lot of time watching how muscles move underneath the skin in humans," she observed.  
Xelloss smiled. "Well...not exactly." _More like I used a few very old anatomy books..._  
Filia yawned, and nuzzled the back of his neck. "Good night, Xelloss-san."  
He faked a yawn automatically. "Good night, Filia." 

_Filia writhed in her sleep, Xelloss dodging her arms, legs, and tail. Every so often she would mutter something that he was too distracted to try to catch. He knew that, if he wanted to find out what she was saying, he would have to restrain her. He cursed quietly._  
Xelloss knelt down beside the body of a dragon in human form. He brushed the man's yellow hair towards one side, carefully looking for something that was apparently too big to be in a pocket, but not too big not to possibly be hidden under the corpse. Xelloss's eyes, serious, regularly flickered away from his search to check his surroundings and he was clearly tense, ready to move if an opponent appeared to either attack it or defend himself.  
Xelloss finally finished his search. In fact, he had finished it several times over, and whatever he was looking for was definitely not there. He touched ragged edges of the smile that had been cut in the dragon's neck, his expression thoughtful, before teleporting away.  
_Xelloss lunged for Filia's wrists, and finally managed to catch them. He forced them together and above her head, using what weight he had to get the rest of her to hold still._  
Her dream, like dreams are wont to do, shifted time and place suddenly and she found herself, though still only able to observe, in the throne room of an ancient tower that had grown a castle but remained, in spirit if not in reality, a tower. It lay in a small, fertile valley surrounded by some of the worst terrain of a giant desert wasteland. Seals, both of Black and of Holy magic, were on it to hide it from anybody who did not know where exactly to look for it.  
A tall, lean man who looked to be perhaps 25 and very handsomely so, sat in a plain stone throne in its center, looking not stiff but somehow like he had been born to look commanding from it in his loose, flowing robes, his long red hair held back by a plain iron circlet. His golden eyes watched, emotionlessly, the living, solid shadows that were his subjects play with nearly worn out humans.  
He stood up and walked through his keep, the scenery dissolving and shifting as he moved until he was in an underground room of highly polished black marble. In each corner was a strange-looking lamp made of a dark grey metal, and in the center of the room was a pillar of the same metal holding what looked like an exact duplicate of the jewel in Xelloss's staff.  
There was a name for them, she knew with the certainty of a dream.  
_Filia still twisted, and Xelloss had to control himself to keep from using any more force than he already was because of the risk to her. Then he caught a phrase of what she was muttering in her sleep. "The eyes of Shabraningdo." His eyes flew open, and he stared at her sleeping face._  
The dream shifted away from the man as he knelt to the jewel, and now she was standing in the road in front of her house. However, her house was ashes, and the town itself was still burning in places. Those didn't draw her attention as much as what was in the remains of her garden.  
One of the creatures from the man's tower, a centaur with a monstrous canine head, sat in what had once been her flower bed. A small pile of bodies lay, neatly stacked, beside him. She recognized all of them: a few of her neighbors, Jillas, Grabos...and her own body. Parts had been cut off from them, and there were a few bones on the stack.  
The thing finished cleaning the flesh from the leg bone it was munching on, and hit it against the nearest stone, breaking it open. Filia watched, feeling sick, as it contentedly sucked the marrow out.  
_Xelloss shook Filia, trying to wake her up. Whatever she was dreaming had her producing a feast for him, and while he normally wouldn't object to being so well-fed he didn't like it right now. If she really had been talking of what he **thought** she was, he needed to know **how** she knew about it as soon as he could.  
Then, suddenly, her eyes flew open. He let go of her wrists, not sure why he did so but knowing that was the right thing to do, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her face against his shoulder. He sat still for a few moments, recognizing the taste of her emotions but surprised that she'd actually cry on **his** shoulder, then cautiously embraced her._

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The Fire Dragon King's followers, to me at least, seem inclined towards placing more importance on the form than anything else in their worship. Thus, I decided that they'd not believe that a proper marriage is possible outside of certain constraints. As far as I can tell, the only iron-clad one is that they have a proper priest conduct the ceremony. That he not, say, recite dirty limericks while completely convinced that he _is_ saying the proper words, or even be alive, doesn't seem to be anywhere near as important or even particularly essential.  
Part of Xelloss's tasting of his own emotions is due to Irk's influence. Read her stories and you'll know from which one I borrowed (with permission) part of that from and what part, too.  
I did not use any of the canon for the details on how mazoku make their alternate forms. As far as I know, there is nothing on the technical aspects in the canon. I just made up what seemed logical, and decided to give a reason for why Xelloss's clothes are overall so draped -- and he seems to be either overly-gifted, stuffing, or wearing a jock strap. 


	10. The Horizon Bleeds and Sucks Its Thumb

Thank you for reviewing, Lauren-sama and Small Lady...  
Lauren, you're right that the plot is thickening. I won't say more than that right now, though. Aside from that, thanks for the wish for luck.  
Small Lady, I'm glad you seem to enjoy the idea of a jock strap. I think. But, actually, I think Xelloss is the only one with a spare pair of socks in his pants in the series, except maybe for some of the chara who don't turn up past perhaps one episode or whose clothes don't let such things show. (For example, it's hard to tell that Garv wears pants at all, and Rezo, both of them, wears robes...) But, really, enough about the covert codpiece usage in Slayers...on with the story! 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. _(Nothing But) Blood_ is copyright I. Watts-Russell / J. Fryer & Momentum Music Ltd. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**09** +===+ **The Horizon Bleeds and Sucks Its Thumb**

_Should have been enough to change your mind  
Could have been enough to take your breath away_  
-- (Nothing But) Blood

Filia sighed, her tears having finally slowed, and leaned against Xelloss's chest. Though it was comforting, it wasn't completely so. He didn't feel alive, even though his flesh was warm. She couldn't hear his heartbeat, even though she had an ear to his chest, and it was too still. Besides...no matter what, he still felt like and was a mazoku.  
_Xelloss, kneeling beside the slain Knight of Ceified, his gloves stained with the dragon's blood._  
Filia shuddered at the flashback of to her dream, and the reminder of whom and what her lover truly was. "Filia-san? What's wrong?" She pulled herself away, and out of his arms, so she could look at his face.  
"Xelloss..." He was confused, clearly so, and there was worry in his expression and she wondered if he really be worried about _her_. "Please go..."  
_Damn... Lord, will I manage to ever spend an entire night with her without **something** going wrong?_ "As you wish, Filia-san." He slipped out of bed silently, switching to his usual, dressed form as he did, and teleported away silently.  
Filia sat still for a few seconds, surprised that Xelloss left so easily and quickly when she asked him to go. Then, recovering, she hugged one of the pillows close to her chest, and cried into it. As she did, she couldn't help but think that Xelloss was more satisfying to cry on than her pillow. 

Zelas was fetching another bottle of wine, on foot as she had found that teleporting did strange things to a good wine, when she discovered Xelloss sleeping among her wolves. She smiled. He didn't often sleep -- mazoku didn't _need_ to sleep, but like many other things with them, not needing to did not mean that they _couldn't_ -- and she hadn't seen him sleeping with the wolves since when he had been quite young.  
She carefully put the bottle down in a safe place, and went over to Xelloss. After simply enjoying watching him for a few moments, she gently shook him awake. She needed to know why he was _there_ instead off on his mission, even though she did have a guest of her own to entertain.  
Xelloss jumped slightly. "I'm sorry, Zelas-sama, I did not want to disturb you..."  
She nodded, with an understanding smile. "What happened, Xelloss-chan?"  
Xelloss nodded, and answered her. He was more direct than usual, skipping over the details (particularly the embarrassing ones) and only telling of what was directly related to both his mission and why he was sleeping among her wolves. Sometimes, it was to his benefit that she be in a hurry.  
Zelas tapped her chin thoughtfully as Xelloss finished with, "And I don't know why she asked me to leave, Mother..."  
"I don't think it's anything you did, Xelloss-chan. Sometimes, a woman just wants to be alone. But, are you certain that she mentioned 'the eyes of Shabraningdo'?" Xelloss nodded. "Then you better return to her in the morning. Make her some tea, apologise for not making her breakfast -- feel free to tell her that I ordered you not to cook for her, and _why_ I did," Xelloss winced at that, "and then ask her about them. She was a priestess of the Fire Dragon King; this may be a prophesy." Zelas paused, and then added, "If she asks _any_ questions related to her dreams, answer them as fully as you can. We may need her."  
Xelloss nodded. It went without saying that, if it truly was a prophesy about what they suspected, it was not likely to be one from the gods. "Are you sure she'll tell me about her dreams...?"  
Zelas smiled, fangs clearly showing. "Tell her that you have been ordered to answer any questions she might have about them, as fully as you can, _**after** she has told you about her dreams_."  
Xelloss smiled back. "Thank you. She will be surprised at such honesty from me," he said, very amused by the thought of Filia's reaction to that.  
There was a quiet, rather polite cough from one of the openings. Xelloss looked up to see Dynast standing there, looking patient. _I thought Dynast had sworn to stay in his fortress until Shabraningdo returned..._ Xelloss thought to himself.  
"I'm sorry, Dynast! I have the wine, and my servant shouldn't be a bother now. He's having some girl troubles on his current mission," Zelas said cheerfully, standing up.  
Dynast nodded, understanding. "Servants can sometimes be quite bad with their timing for needing their superior's attentions. Sherra once spent a bit too much time disguised too well as a human once, and turned up in the middle of the night in a panic because her borrowed form had started bleeding unexpectedly..."  
Zelas joined Dynast in the door, looking interested. "It just started bleeding suddenly...? How strange!"  
Xelloss watched, somewhat stunned, as Zelas and Dynast walked away. From the direction their voices -- still discussing Dynast's story which Xelloss would have found amusing any other time and place -- it sounded like they were going to Zelas's bedroom. _Lord... **Zelas-sama** and Dynast?_

Filia woke up the next morning, having cried herself into a dreamless, unrefreshing sleep, to the smell of fresh-made tea. She rubbed her eyes and cheeks, doing her best to remove the dried tears from her face without using a mirror and, pulling on her robe, started blearily down to her kitchen.  
She stopped in the door at the sight of Xelloss, wearing a frilly pink apron with a rather cute yellow chick on it, cleaning her kitchen even though it hadn't really needed cleaning and was now well _past_ being spotless. On the table she normally ate at sat her tea service, properly laid out for two and with the tea pot full of chamomile tea.  
"Good morning, Filia-san," he said, not looking up from where he was scrubbing the floor. Filia couldn't help but notice that the tiles were even shinier than they could have been when new. "Are you feeling better this morning?"  
Filia nodded, realized that wasn't quite polite, and then said, "Yes, I am." Even though she really wasn't, she didn't want to admit it to Xelloss. She still remembered seeing him, in the dream, with the dead Knight of Ceified.  
She couldn't let herself forget that he was a _powerful_ mazoku, deadly, and had killed many of her kind, though not ones of her own clan. He had even once threatened her own life, and that of the High Elder's. She had to forget that he had also saved her life, and how nicely he had been treating her lately, both in and out of her bed...  
Xelloss was looking at her, eyes open. "Filia-san, please don't lie. What's wrong? Please tell me..." Filia's eyes stared into his own, and her emotions were a riot of different flavors serving as a spice for the dominant candy flavor of surprise. "If there's anything about it that...I could explain, Zelas-sama's ordered me to tell you as much as I can about it, so..."  
"Xelloss..." she said, voice shaky, "why? _**Why**_ are you _asking_ me to tell, instead of tricking me into telling you about my dreams, or using force...?"  
Xelloss's mouth curved upwards in a bitter smile. "Can't you guess, Filia-san...?" 

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I will admit that I have chosen to deviate from what is officially asserted about the nature of the mazoku race in the canon. The primary reason I have chosen to do this is because several of these, such as mazoku being incapable of love and even (perhaps) incapable of emotion, have certain essential problems. For example, a character authentically without any kind of emotion is less a character and more of an attackable force of nature.  
Probably the best explanation for mazoku being said to be incapable of love is because as an alternate paring, Lina and Xelloss had been quite popular from very early on in Japan. This was _not_ liked by one of the creators of Slayers, who decided to get people to stop asking him to get Lina together with Xelloss instead of Gourry by simply stating that Xelloss was incapable of love. At least, this is the version of the circumstances I have heard. (Things from the interviews should be taken with a grain of salt anyway. Elsewhere it is said that higher mazoku, which includes Xelloss, are claimed elsewhere to be capable of feeling emotions if they are around those with strong emotions.)  
Anyway, to deal with these kinds of problems -- contradictions in the official body of knowledge given for the mazoku race, both those within it and the contractions that appear when you consider the canon directly -- I have decided to treat parts of this as "what others think of the mazoku." Admittedly, I am letting some of this 'body of myths' be partially accurate: I would expect a mazoku in love to be _much_ more inclined towards stalking his beloved than towards _romancing_ her.  
On the other things... Dynast might have said that he wasn't going to leave his fortress until Shabby was back on the field, but it seems that he did count the Rezo incident since he turns up in the novels not long after the anime stopped following their plot line in any way. Sherra's 'borrowed body' method is something of a shortcut of having to figure out how to build a secondary form that will move right, and sometimes might be used by a mazoku who just needs to replace one person for a little while. Her problem should be easily guessed by any woman.  
Xelloss is not going to start stalking Filia so soon after realizing his feelings for her. He's giving denial as much of a chance as he can. 


	11. Holocaust

Saki, thank you for the review. I'm quite flattered.  
(My, not many reviews this time. Oh well...) 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. The original version of _Several Times_ was by Pieter Nooten / Michael Brook, and it is copyright P. Nooten & Momentum Music Ltd. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**10** +===+ **Holocaust**

_Several times I saw you  
In your eyes  
Several times I saw you  
Wishing to stop this_  
-- Several Times

Filia sipped her tea, worried. Xelloss was acting _strange_. He had actually had his eyes open ever since she had asked him her questions, and he had replied with his own. She didn't answer -- because only answer that came to her mind, and seemed to fit, was that he actually cared about _her_ -- was impossible. Instead she told him about her dreams.  
Now, having finally finished, without any interruptions from Xelloss, the kitchen was quiet. Xelloss watched her thoughtfully over the rim of his own teacup, which he had dropped a few cloves into, waiting to speak until Filia was starting to feel like somebody had put itching powder into the crotch of her panties. "So, the red orb that matches the one in my staff was called in your dreams 'the Eyes of Shabraningdo'?"  
Filia nodded. "Yes, it was."  
Xelloss sighed. "You know how Orihalcon is formed of materials detached from the Flare Dragon while in battle with Lord Ruby Eyes?" Filia nodded, not quite understanding why this was relevant. "Parts of Lord Shabraningdo were also cut away from his body, before he was split into seven parts, his 'blood.' The two largest of these were formed by Phibrizo-sama not long afterwards into a pair of large spheres. These spheres, capable of amplifying a mazoku's power and of letting a mazoku draw upon an outside power without harm, were given the name of 'the Eyes of Shabraningdo' by a human sorcerer.  
"There are some smaller pieces of this material out there, but they are, on the whole, not as strong as the Eyes, and it is nowhere near as common as Orihalcon. Most of it resides in the hands of the Dark Lords, though what has happened to Garv's and to Phibrizo-sama's own pieces is unknown to me. The Mazoku know in whose hands almost all of the rest of the known pieces of it are in. Only one known piece is lost."  
Filia blinked, as she realized both what that piece was, and what that meant the jewel in Xelloss's staff was... "One of the Eyes..."  
Xelloss nodded. "It was stolen just before Phibrizo-sama revived a piece of Shabraningdo. Things had not been that stable, the war had been brewing for quite a while, and so Phibrizo-sama decided to place it in the direct care of the youngest Dark Lord, Zelas-sama..." 

Xelloss sat on the floor of the 'reception' room that Zelas maintained for when she was being visited by other Dark Lords. He wasn't sure why Zelas-sama had asked him to be in there, particularly since she hadn't requested him to not seem to be paying any attention to whatever might happen while he was in there. He decided to bring one of the many books Zelas had told him to read with him, and was pretending to be reading it.  
Xelloss was a very young mazoku, and was actually the age he looked like. He was also rather inexperienced, having only been off Wolf Pack a few times, and those times with Zelas. The world outside was interesting, though, and Zelas had promised him that she would, when the time was right, let him travel alone. In the meantime, though, he was to stay with her.  
This would be the first time he got to be near a Dark Lord other than his own 'mother'. He was looking forward to it.  
He felt a large power -- even larger than Zelas's -- arrive, and a man appeared. He was about half a foot shorter than Xelloss, with golden eyes and wild black hair that had been subjected with only partial success to an attempt to pull it back into a _very_ short pony tail. He wore form-fitting blue clothes, which highlighted his muscles, and was carrying a metal box almost half his height. In less than a minute, Xelloss felt the familiar presence of Zelas, and she joined them. "Hello, Hellmaster Phibrizo. I have been expecting you."  
"Hello, Zelas. I have brought something for you to guard," he said, getting straight to business.  
Xelloss didn't like that: Zelas had always told him, "Anybody who, outside of an emergency, goes straight to business without any kind of small talk is not a good person to work with." _No wonder Zelas-sama was not happy to hear that Hellmaster was going to come here..._  
"You want me to _guard_ something?" she asked, somehow keeping the annoyance Xelloss knew had to be there out of her voice. "Why me, and what is it?"  
Phibrizo smiled, a quite sinister smile. "You have a nice isolated island, and _this_." He shifted the box onto one arm and opened it to reveal two large red jewels nestled in the padding. Xelloss had to work hard to keep from staring as he recognized them as gigantic specimens of the same material which the small beads in Zelas's three-strand choker made from.  
Zelas was clearly surprised. "You want me to guard these?"  
"Yes," Phibrizo said. "With what is going on in the world, such important items as these need to be in as safe a place as possible, and my stronghold would be the first place that anyone who is searching for these would look. Normally, I would not worry about such things, but I have recently had several uninvited guests..."  
"Oh my. Somebody took being told to go to Hell as an order?" Zelas asked, taking the box and closing it.  
Phibrizo, either not noticing or simply ignoring the humor, nodded. "I know that your island's location is not known except to those whom you wish to have such information, and that your new servant is said to be one of the most powerful." Phibrizo looked at Xelloss, who immediately buried his nose in his book. He could feel Phibrizo's desire to have him as his own servant and plaything, and didn't like the feeling at all.  
"Thine orders are my desire," Zelas said, using the formal phrasing and making Phibrizo have to stop looking so covetously at her servant. "I shall keep these as safe as I am able to."  
Phibrizo nodded, acknowledging Zelas's statement. "I have other things to take care of," he said, before leaving.  
Zelas made a sound that Xelloss recognized as meaning that she was quite annoyed. "How rude! He didn't even say good bye!" 

Xelloss followed after Zelas, the box cradled in his arms. She had not said where they were going, but as she led him along the rocky beach below the cliffs on the southwest shore he had quickly guessed. The caves at the bottom of the cliff were the safest locations on the island outside of directly under his mother's nose.  
The beach itself was a narrow shelf, the bottom dropping sharply only a few feet away from its edge when it existed. The rocks of the beach could only be walked at low tide -- and it only existed as a true beach at the lowest of tides -- as the currents would pull any who tried to walk it to a certain death. (Well, not mazoku: a mazoku would simply face certain doom. Xelloss wasn't sure what Zelas kept right off-shore, and he didn't really want to meet it.)  
In addition to that, the rocks were sharp and piled chaotically. It would be almost impossible to navigate a boat through them without destroying its hull. Xelloss felt that the odds of such a thing happening were only slightly better than those of Shabraningdo-sama suddenly declaring himself a pacifist and devoting himself towards helping the unfortunate of the world.  
Xelloss suspected that, for the extra (though unnecessary in his opinion) security, Zelas was going to have him put it into one of the caves that was normally completely flooded and whose mouth was often underwater. It would be safe: he doubted anybody would even be insane enough to try, no less actually able to succeed.  
Zelas stopped in front of one of the cave mouths, this one the lowest he had seen yet. "Xelloss, open the case for me, please. I want to do something before we put it in."  
Xelloss knelt down, carefully balancing the box on one knee as he opened it. He managed, barely, to maintain his balance, as the rocks were not flat and the tide was on its way back in so the water tugged at his feet. It would _not_ do for him to drop such valuable things, and it would be just plain embarrassing to fall over in front of Zelas-sama.  
Zelas reached in and took out one of the two spheres. "I don't want to keep these two together. I do not want to risk both getting stolen, should thieves somehow manage to come _here_."  
Xelloss closed the box, and carefully stood back up. "But Zelas-sama..."  
She smiled kindly at him. "You are still very young, Xelloss," she said, with only fondness in her voice. "You will learn, eventually, to be more cautious about such things." Her expression changed. "However, I do need to punish you for daring to question me. Go place the case with the remaining jewel at the back of this cave."  
Xelloss winced. He knew that he should have guessed that was why Zelas had made him come with her, and he _knew_ that Zelas wanted him to become more comfortable with swimming. Still, he couldn't really say no. Resigned, he pushed the case in and then dived in after it, all too aware of his complete lack of grace. The sooner he finished, the better. _Perhaps_, he thought to himself, _if I get it done quickly enough, Zelas would help me pull myself **out**._  
Xelloss placed the box as quickly as he could, then swam back to the entrance, wishing the entire time that the cliff was not _so_ well warded against attempts to simply teleport into or out of its caves. It would be much easier to not have to swim. He'd not have to spend so much time underwater, either, if he could have just used the astral plane to enter and exit it.  
Luckily for Xelloss, Zelas was pleased enough with his work to help him. She did, however, grin in amusement. "Good, Xelloss," she said approvingly. "Now, put this in your bag. You will guard it yourself."  
Xelloss stared at the red jewel in his hands. "You want me to guard it...?" he said, distractedly obeying Zelas's instructions. He had not expected her to give him such an important job so soon.  
"Yes, Xelloss. You are my most powerful servant," not bothering mentioning that he was _almost_ her only one, "and I think you are ready for this. You will also keep an eye on the other one. I expect you to make sure that no thieves come even close to either the one you carry yourself or the one in the cave."  
Xelloss knelt in a low bow as well as he could without falling into the water, which was now thigh-deep. "As thou command, my lord," he said, feeling that formal phrasing suited the occasion. "I shall obey."  
Zelas _grinned_. "See that you do, Xelloss." 

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The choice of materials for the 'Eyes of Shabraningdo' was made after reviewing a certain part of the second volume of the manga on the origin of Orihalcon and what is on QP/Diana's site on Lina's magic amplifiers. It simply made sense to have there be, well, a substance opposite of Orihalcon. Also, I have to admit that Irk was once again an influance here. 

The wards against teleportation, of course, cover flight. What would be the point of warding against teleportation, but not preventing people from flying in and out of the caves? 

As always, comments, complements, questions, and dark chocolate are welcomed. Particularly combinations of them. 


	12. Nothing but Blood

Wow, three reviews! Better than last time!  
Thanks, Ludacris. The plot's got a little more thickening to go, though... The past is quite important to what is happening, and what will happen. The Sherra bit was a throwaway, and a bit of an in-joke; I'm somewhat surprised at how many people seem to have found it funny.  
Lauren, I _had_ been wondering -- you've reviewed every single chapter so far with the exception of the one I suspect FF.net doesn't let people review.  
I had been unsure on how the charas interacted in the 9th chapter... It's very nice to hear that it _did_ work, after all, even though things happened to it. Dynast, for instance, just turned up, and his Sherra story wasn't quite my idea to include, because of its in-joke nature. (Though, Dynast's there for more reason than just wine and entertainment...)  
Much of this story's background is actually not as much thought-out as simply accepted as they turn up. It's somewhat like putting together a puzzle which somebody else lost in a couch you got second-hand... You just hope all the puzzle's pieces are there, and that they only lost _one_ puzzle in the couch.  
There's going to be more of young Xelloss, since Xelloss's not finished telling his story yet. Phibrizo will be involved in this story a bit more, too, though he's not going to directly appear again. At least, I don't _think_ he'll directly appear again...  
Oh, and I'm writing this so quickly because I actually know _where_ (in a general way) this story is going, so it's much easier for me to actually get it written...and I'm keeping this away from certain parties' hands in RL, so I don't end up spending an eternity typing in endless revisions... The wish for luck is _very_ much appreciated. 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. The original version of _'Til I Gain Control Again_ was performed by Emmylou Harris and is copyright R. Crowell & Tessa Publishing. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**11** +===+ **(Nothing but) Blood**

_What you see is what I've been  
There is nothing I could hide from you  
You see me better than I can  
Out on the roads that lies before me now  
There are some turns where I will spin  
I only hope that you can hold me now  
'til I can gain control again_  
-- 'Til I Gain Control

Xelloss gave the teapot a _look_ as only a few drops fell from its spout into his cup. "We're out of tea already...? Oh, dear. I suppose I best make more." He put the kettle back on, moving bit more quickly than Filia could track his movements, and opened up the cabinet that Filia kept her teas inside. "Hmmm...what should be good..." he muttered, and Filia found herself somehow feeling compelled to stifle a giggle. There was just _something_ about seeing _Xelloss_ muttering over teas like he was making the most important choice he would ever need to make.  
The fact that she often was the same way over teas escaped her completely. However, the fact that she had not had anything _other_ than the tea Xelloss had made for her did not escape her. "Xelloss, shouldn't we have more than just tea for breakfast?"  
Xelloss paused in his muttered critique of the pros and cons of particular teas in the morning. "Zelas-sama ordered me not to cook for you."  
Filia looked at him, curious. "Why would she order you not to cook for me...?"  
Xelloss sweatdropped. "Lina-san didn't tell you...?" Filia shook her head. "I'm not very good at cooking." He pulled a canister out of the cabinet and carefully measured out the proper amount of tea into the teapot just in time for the kettle to whistle.  
"Oh. Well, I got something at the bakery yesterday, when I got lunch..." Xelloss watched curiously as Filia, with a faint blush, pulled a bag out of her bread box and placed the contents on a plate. "I had thought it might be polite to offer you something this morning to go with your tea..."  
Xelloss smiled, amused, as he poured the water into the pot. "How thoughtful of you, Filia!" Xelloss carried the teapot to the table, followed by Filia with the plate. "Thank you very much, Filia-chan."  
She smiled, and watched the tea brew. "So, which tea did you choose?"  
"The Keemun. You have an impressive selection of teas, Filia, and quite good taste." He had learned to appreciate good taste in tea selection, after having once visited an inn with Lina that had only peach tea and mango herbal brew -- and both were quite stale, and overbrewed. (He had taken the time that night to have a little 'talk' with the inn's owner, though Zelgadiss, who had managed to visit the innkeeper before him, had not left much else to 'explain.' The next morning, there was a very nice pot of green tea for them, on the house.)  
Filia smiled, enjoying the complement. "Thank you, Xelloss." She picked up a scone and nibbled delicately on it as she waited for the tea to finish brewing. "So, Zelas-sama had ordered you guard them...?"  
Xelloss smiled in private amusement at hearing _Filia_, a golden dragon, refer to his mother as 'Zelas-sama.' "Yes, she had..." 

Xelloss had not been given any significant tasks by Zelas before in his entire life. Zelas had been quite clear that she did not want to risk him until she felt relatively certain that he would survive. He understood that, knowing that his creation had been quite draining for his mother, and didn't mind that she gave him tasks that would otherwise be carried out by much lesser mazoku. He enjoyed taking care of her library, wines, and wolves, and took pride in doing a much better job with them than anybody other than Zelas herself.  
However, he did not feel that checking on the cave was a task particularly requiring him for various reasons. The primary one was that, though Zelas had been the one to give him the order, the task itself was (in his opinion) from Phibrizo. Instead of actually watching from the top of the cliff and checking within the cave daily, he simply walked to its entrance daily, cursing the wards that made it unwise to either teleport or fly there.  
If it had not been something so important, such measures would have been enough. 

Xelloss carefully picked his way through the stones, trying to not loose his balance on the slick, wet rock. As he neared the cave's mouth, he saw something white tangled among the jagged rocks in front of it. As he neared it, he realized that it was a length of cloth.  
Carefully, he speeded up. The cloth shouldn't be there. If it was there, _really_ there, then...  
Then he had failed, and it really didn't _matter **whom**_ he had failed. If he had failed Phibrizo... Phibrizo would punish him, Xelloss had no illusions that the Hellmaster could and _would_ punish him, and he didn't want to discover just how Phibrizo would do that. Even if he was told that he was forgiven...  
If he had failed Zelas, though, it would be just as bad. She wouldn't punish him as badly as he knew Phibrizo would, but simply knowing that he had failed her, his mother... That would be punishment all by itself.  
He knelt down carefully, all too aware that the rock was slippery and he could quite easily slip into the water on the _wrong_ side of the beach. The course feel of soaked cheap linen under his fingertips confirmed the reality of the cloth. He had _failed_.  
_Damn. This is **not** good._ He knew that if he wanted to make things at least a bit better, he needed to get it back and kill those who had taken it.  
The wind shifted direction for a moment, blowing to his ears a snippet of conversation, somebody talking about how close they had come to being caught. Xelloss stood up quickly to try to see the speakers, and lost his balance. As he fell into the ocean, he had a quick glimpse of a small, strange boat with five passengers, well out to sea before he was submerged.  
The waters grabbed him instantly, pulling him swiftly towards even darker depths. He tried to break free from them, but both his inexperience at swimming and the strength of the current kept him from succeeding at escaping it.  
He had a vague impression of a large, black tentacle wrapping itself around him. There was a much less vague impression of a painful _dullness_ spreading through his form from where it touched. Quite distinctly and _very_ definitely, Xelloss was aware of a mouthful of long, sharp fangs, each and every single one as long as he was tall.  
The mouth started to close, and he _knew_ that he wasn't going to be completely inside before the teeth reached him... 

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Hm. I really _don't_ have much to note here. Still, I should have _something_, so...  
There's actually a good reason for Zelgadiss having gotten to the innkeeper before Xelloss. Zelgadiss is a lot less experienced with performing such explanations than Xelloss, and thus chose the earlier (but much riskier) time to conduct his explanation while Xelloss knew to wait a little longer. Zelgadiss was really rather lucky to have not gotten caught mid-'explanation'. 

Anyway, reviews and dark chocolate are quite welcome and will be considered encouragement. 


	13. Red Rain

Wow. Four reviews! I'm only nine away from 50 reviews on this one, now, too. Thanks to all who reviewed!  
Don't worry, Pai-Wei, I will be continuing this 'fic... I repeat my claim that I really haven't thought it out well ahead of time; in fact, certain parts have refused to go as I had expected them to go, originally. On the other hand, I do make an effort to maintain continuity, and I do know where this should go ultimately.  
(Oh, and a lot of the really interesting stuff currently going in the way of Slayers fanfics here is R-rated. You're right to start looking at it more often.)  
Saki, you're right, you should review more often. Thank you for remembering to review this time!  
Thank you for reviewing Badgerwolf. I guess I'm going to have to stop wondering about the injoke being gotten or not by people. It obviously _is_ being understood...  
I really like your review for the last chapter, Lauren-sama! It's very long, and quite nice! I'm afraid, though, that I can't stay much longer with Xelloss's younger self, though...  
The inn scenario was quite intentionally put in as a joke, because of what happens in the rest of the chapter. I'm not as sympathetic towards him as you are, though, but that's mainly because I don't like people who serve others bad tea. If it's any help, he did survive, and Lina & company found themselves being told that their entire stay was 'on the house'...  
I'm glad you liked and understood the puzzle analogy. I will admit that this may be slowed down soon, simply because I'm not being allowed to actually settle down and write as much as I'd like to when I'm in the mood to write, so I can't keep up the same speed on chapters... 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. The original version of _Another Day_ was performed by Roy Harper, and is copyright Roy Harper & Warner Bros. Music. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**12** +===+ **Red Rain**

_Oh really my dear I can't see what we fear  
Standing here with ourselves in between us  
And at the door, we can't say more, than just another day  
And without a sound, I turn around, and walk away_  
-- Another Day

The next thing Xelloss knew, he was tucked into Zelas's bed, surrounded by white from the whitewashed dressed walls to the softly draped bed clothes. The only thing in the room that wasn't white was the ironwork frame of her canopy bed, however the effect of all the white was not bleak or icy but rather warm. The warmth was enhanced by the two curtains hung over window frames in one wall, softly glowing; Xelloss had always wondered if it was an illusion, or if there were real windows behind Zelas's curtains.  
He couldn't remember how he got there. The last thing he _could_ remember, clearly, was a gigantic mouth, the right size according to what he had been taught for a kraken's mouth but it couldn't have belonged to a kraken because kraken didn't have any teeth, no less the humoungous knives of the mouth that had been closing upon him. Kraken, according to the books his mother had given him and her own words, gummed their pray to death.  
Still, he was in a warm bed and seemed to be whole even though he didn't feel quite that way. Not only did his form ache, he knew that he had failed Zelas-sama and was only there because _she_ had saved him. He didn't deserve to be still around, and whole: he had failed her miserably.  
That he had probably been _saved_ from that monster and had definitely been put back together by her only made it worse. Xelloss sighed, dropping his head back down to the pillow and closing his eyes. _Mother probably has been ordered by Hellmaster to save me just so **he** can punish me himself_, he thought miserably to himself. _Zelas-sama would have let me meet my well-earned fate..._  
He _jumped_ at the unexpected feeling of Zelas's hand gently smoothing his hair. She smiled at his wide-open eyes, and giggled. "So you're finally awake Xelloss-chan! Don't you _dare_ make me have to rescue you again. You're much too valuable to me, and I don't want to have to replace you _so_ soon."  
"Zelas-sama...?" He was confused. She shouldn't care so much about him, really; he was only her servant, only her offspring in a technical sense. He was _supposed_ to be disposable, particularly if he was so pathetically weak to be _that_ easily taken to the brink of destruction. Why would she care enough about him to save him, and repair him, without being ordered to do so?  
But she _was_ Zelas-sama, and his place was not to contradict her, particularly when it was to his benefit, since however unworthy he might be of it he _certainly_ was not worthy enough to argue with her.  
"Xelloss, you are to go out and retrieve the stolen Eye. If you do not find it, and either kill or capture all of those who were involved directly in stealing it, I will be forced to give you to Phibrizo for punishment. If you succeed... I should be able to convince him to let me take care of your punishment myself."  
Xelloss _stared_ at her. Her offer could only mean that she had yet to tell Hellmaster about the theft, which would mean that, if he failed, Phibrizo would be quite unhappy with _both_ of them.  
"After I retrieved you, I sent a minion to follow the boat. It returned today to inform me that they had landed near the southern edge of the Desert of Destruction." Zelas's hand moved, somehow pulling a staff holding the remaining Eye in one end out from nowhere. She placed it in his arms, his hands automatically curling around its shaft.  
Xelloss hadn't thought it was possible for something even _more_ surprising to happen to him. However, as his hands closed upon the staff, he knew, innately, that the staff was a _part_ of him. Zelas laughed at the look on his face. "Yes, Xelloss, it's yours. This way I can be certain that you _won't_ easily loose _this_ Eye.  
"Now, my spy will guide you to where the thieves can be found. I hope that, _this_ time, you will succeed." Zelas turned and left. 

Xelloss looked around the beach, ignoring the now-burning boat. The shore the thieves had landed upon was one that, if he was right, was only used by those either trying to sneak through Hellmaster's territory and by those carrying prisoners overland to disorient them. The badlands that started almost as soon as the beach itself ended had only a few 'safe' paths through it, and it was said that none of them ended anywhere near the ends of the others.  
Thankfully, they had not left the beach so long ago that their tracks were gone, and Xelloss _was_ Zelas-sama's own priest. If he couldn't track them through such terrain when they were obviously doing nothing to discourage even the most simple tracking methods...  
Besides, the sun was going to be soon low enough in the sky that it'd be getting too dark to travel through the rocks without using lights, and since they were not from Hellmaster he doubted they would try _that_. They would camp for the night, and wouldn't be _too_ far away. 

Xelloss crept carefully closer to the fire. He wasn't quite sure how sensitive the people surrounding it were, mainly towards the presence of other people in general. He had some idea how sensitive they might be to the presence of a mazoku nearby, though, and he wanted to get as close as possible so he could at least see what he was up against, and who had the stolen Eye.  
He had learned, not particularly happily, that this was _not_ a place to take the wrong path in, nor was it friendly in any way to exploration. He suspected that Phibrizo was responsible for several of the creatures he had encountered already, and certain that Phibrizo had definitely had something to do with the creature that called itself 'Rawhead'.  
Anything whose lair had a full set of dragon heads (lovingly but lousily done; the stuffing leaked at points, the sewing tended to gape, and surprisingly cute buttons attempted to serve as eyes) was not something he _really_ was eager to mess with. A couple of those heads belonged to species of dragon Zelas had explicitly ordered him not to get into any fights with until he was older, and she would _tell_ him when he was old enough.  
Since he didn't want to have to chase after them, he had to make sure that he could cut off any of them that might panic and flee. It wasn't _too_ important that he get them all, though that'd certainly be for the best that he did, but it was essential that he get the one with the stolen jewel.  
Xelloss _froze_ as a stone rattled after his foot accidentally hit it. _**Damn!**_ he thought, knowing that anybody who _wasn't_ on alert after hearing a noise like that here wouldn't have survived _this_ far. He waited a few minutes, straining to hear what was going on in the camp.  
The unexpected silence worried him. There should have been the sounds of them getting armor on and weapons prepared, or at least the soft rustle of movement. Instead, there was..._nothing_.  
Xelloss let the restraints he had put on his astral senses relax; before, he had suppressed them to the level of sensitivity of a human, to lessen the chances of being sensed as mazoku. Now, though, he wanted to know as much as possible about the terrain, no matter the chances of detection.  
Xelloss cursed under his breath as he realized that, though he _saw_ that there were people down there, he couldn't sense anything significant _living_. All that was there was the usual background noise, which Zelas told him was from tiny living things too small to see easily and truly incapable of emotions.  
He slipped down there through the astral plane, and frowned. It was obvious that the two elves and the stunted-looking young Golden had been killed by one of their companions. Their bodies were much too intact, much too neat, for them to have been killed by the local wildlife.  
A quick search revealed two sets of tracks, and he quickly followed after them, staying alert for their makers. Hopefully, they'd be too busy fleeing through the dark in the wastelands to be watching for _him_.  
He almost fell over one of them. He looked down and cursed mentally as he saw that the tracks ended here; the other person must have killed this one, and then started doing a masterful job of cleaning the tracks as whomever it was fled the scene. He could understand why; he could _sense_ that the dead dragon _had_ been the Knight of Ceified.  
He knelt down warily to check the body, hoping that the jewel was still there but knowing that wasn't at all likely, and praying that whomever had managed to kill the Knight wasn't going to come back. Zelas had been quite clear about how powerful Ceified's Knights were when she put them on the list of things he wasn't to get into fights with until older, and he wasn't too eager to start an argument with anything that could _kill_ one. 

Filia watched Xelloss, worried, after he stopped telling his story and just stared at the last few sips of tea, now cold, in his cup. Even though his hair hid his eyes completely, she knew somehow that he was haunted by whatever had happened afterwards. "Xelloss? What happened after that...?"  
He _shuddered_, and looked up. Filia shuddered herself as she saw the look in his eyes, her teacup rattling against its saucer. "Hellmaster Phibrizo demanded me, so he could punish me...  
"If the war had not started as soon after that as it had, I would definitely not be the same mazoku I am now. Zelas-sama was able to get me returned before the Hellmaster had actually started my punishment, and... I do not like thinking about what did happen, and what had almost happened to me."  
"_Oh!_" Filia moved over to Xelloss, and wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head to her chest. "I'm sorry, Xelloss. I shouldn't have asked you..."  
Xelloss just sighed, nuzzling against her breasts. She smiled at him, and let him. 

_She's so warm_, Xelloss thought to himself. The warmth was comforting, a soft warmth, offered out of a welcomed kindness. He could hear her heart, the tide of blood within her, and the air moving in and out of her lungs. Those sounds, and the slight movements of her chest, were somehow familiar, even though they were exotic to him.  
_I wish I could stay here forever_, he thought to himself and was surprised by his desire. 

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Here's a random jumble of notes for all of you:  
I know, the idea of a kraken gumming its prey to death does sound somewhat...silly. However, remember that kraken are large enough to be mistaken for islands. They've got a _lot_ of gum to use to crush things. Teeth would be, really, overkill.  
I'm not sure if Rawhead will turn up again, though knowing how this is going, I'm rather sure he will. With any luck, he won't be joined by Bloody Bones then.  
Zelas's reasons for banning Xelloss from fighting certain powerful things is not because he's _weak_ but because he's _young_. Remember: she had put a lot of effort into making him. Loosing him so quickly because he did something really _stupid_ would be a terrible waste. (Also remember that there are still Ancients at this point...)  
Phibrizo's plans for Xelloss's punishment, and what little he had managed to do to Xelloss before he couldn't deny Zelas her servant any longer, are unknown to me aside from the broadest strokes... Phibrizo was a sadeist in the technical definition of one: he got sexual pleasure out of others' pain. He really enjoyed breaking his toys, too, and was quite good at breaking them completely.  
Xelloss would be nothing like the mazoku we know (and, in some cases, love) if he had stayed in Phibrizo's hands long enough for Phibrizo to get _serious_... He's also quite lucky that the last time was 'business' only and probably is very much aware of that. 

Reviews -- with or without comments, questions, and suggestions -- are welcome. I will reply to them, but I don't promise anything _more_ than a reply! 


	14. Waves Become Wings

Well, there are only three reviews to reply to this time, sadly. Maybe I'll have fifty by the time I get the next chapter up. Anyway, here's the usual bunch of replies.  
Saki: The last moment of that chapter's sweetness was somewhat in reaction to the rest of what happened. I'm glad you liked the tale from Xelloss's youth (though I'm not sure I'd say that Xel's confiding in Filia _just_ yet)... I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.  
Lauren-sama: Everybody seems to like that ending bit of fluff... I'm glad I was successful in my goals for it -- I wanted him to come off as lonely and vulnerable, partially because I wanted to end that one with fluff. It made this chapter easier to write.  
I'm afraid, though, that this chapter won't advance the parts of the plot surrounding the stolen Eye. That's for later. I've got some other sections of the plot that need moving forward now, after being neglected over three chapters that were almost completely set in the distant past. I hope you don't mind.  
Ludacris: What can I say, but thank you? I made an effort to make those three chapters of 'flashback' work, and to create a believable younger Xelloss. I hope you find this chapter just as good as the previous ones. 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. The original version _Mr. Somewhere_ was performed by The Apartments, and is copyright P. M. Walsh & Complete Music Ltd. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**13** +===+ **Waves Become Wings**

_Mr. Somewhere missing somewhere never did figure just how much  
Missing somewhere never did figure just how much_  
-- Mr. Somewhere

"Filia..." Xelloss murmured, feeling languid and at peace with the world. The sheets felt soft against his skin, almost as soft as her own, and were so pleasantly warm... "Why?"  
"Maybe it's because I'm sorry I made you remember what happened with Hellmaster that time...?" she said softly, cradling his head against her bosom. "You looked so..._lost_."  
"Oh. Maybe I should look lost more often."  
She giggled, her chest doing what Xelloss considered to be _quite_ interesting things. "It wouldn't work for too long, Xelloss. I'd eventually just throw you out."  
"And you think I'll _let_ you throw me out of anywhere...?" he said, with a challenging grin.  
"Oh, I'm sure I could convince you that you didn't mind it at all..." she replied, her grin echoing his own.  
Words weren't used much for a little while, the feelings -- physical and mental -- being too satisfying to leave much room for such minor things. 

Xelloss sighed, feeling quite satisfied with himself. The tart taste of Filia's physical pleasure was _much_ better than the slightly burnt flavor to her sympathy. He was starting to find the taste of her pleasure a bit addictive, too.  
That reminded him of something he had been wondering about for a bit. "Filia..._why_ do you seem to enjoy it so much when I bite your neck and shoulders while we're having sex? I may not know _much_ about dragon anatomy, but several of those spots _should_ cause you extreme pain, not pleasure..."  
"Oh... Umm..." He smiled, enjoying her embarrassment. "Well... The matrons always told us that when a man and a woman mated, if she was too enthusiastic for her mate he would bite at nerve centers in her neck to keep her still. We all thought that it must be quite painful..."  
"Hm. So I'm not the only one who has problems in bed with enthusiastic dragon ladies. But I feel a bit cheated; you get mind-numbing pleasure, I get a mouthful of sweaty dragon."  
For several long minutes, there was silence.  
"Filia, if I promise to gently nibble on those nerve centers after getting you aroused enough for it to feel good, will you let me back into your bed?"  
"No."  
"_Please_? The floor is hard and cold!"  
"Not until sunset." 

"But Filia, you said you'd let me back into your bed at sunset!" Xelloss dropped the dishes he had been carrying into the sink, being careful to make sure none broke without it seeming like he was paying attention to _that_.  
"You're welcome to go ahead, Xelloss. I should wait up a while, in case Jillas or Grabos return. Now that the weather's finally turning, they should be back soon..."  
"But I'll be lonely! Do you have to...?"  
Filia sighed at the look on his face, knowing that he must be only acting and that she was about to do something rather foolish. "If you've any suggestions on what to do to leave some light out for them, without risking burning the house down, you could convince me to _not_ wait up and keep an eye on a candle."  
Xelloss looked at her curiously. "Why don't you use a light spell, Filia...?"  
"Well... It doesn't look right to the locals, since it's not attached to a lamp or a candle, and even though the barrier's been gone for a few years they're still not quite comfortable with magic being used _that_ casually..."  
"Why don't you attach it to a lamp? It should be rather easy to make the globe stick to the wick..." he said, thoughtfully. "It'd only take a little alteration on the spell..."  
"You speak like it's so easy to convince it to stick to a solid object," she said, trying hard to hide her annoyance and barely missing success.  
"Do you have a lamp?" he asked, apparently oblivious. "Preferably one that's been dry for a while?"  
Filia sighed. "There's one in the linen closet, on the top shelf. You should recognize it; you managed to somehow make it impossible for me to refill it back when I had just settled down, and I didn't notice until after burning all the oil in it. Please be careful with it. It _had_ been my favorite lamp, back when it worked."  
Xelloss sweatdropped. That little prank _had_ slipped his mind... _I hope she's not going to try to punish me for that trick again; I really **hadn't** known how much she had liked it._ He decided to go get it immediately, in hopes that maybe she'd calm down a bit by the time he got back. 

_Just_ long enough afterwards for Filia to have calmed down some, Xelloss returned with the lamp. It was a small work of art, made entirely from good, clear crystal with an etched fine floral pattern covering the base, with a matching thin ring around the upper rim of the chimney. It appeared to be already lit, and though it was clear to Filia's more experienced eye the unwavering clear light was definitely that of magic it was very unlikely that the locals would think it was anything but a _very_ good lamp full of top-quality oil.  
Xelloss looked _very_ pleased with himself. Filia had only seen him smile _this_ enthusiastically a few times, all of them recently, and, come to think of it, for the same reason. _He must already be thinking of his reward for this little feat_, she decided.  
"Look, Filia! I even lit it for you! I even managed to set it so it'll go out of its own accord at dawn, so you won't have to get up to move it out of the window!"  
"How thoughtful." Though turning down the implied offer there was tempting to her, the power of Xelloss's puppy-dog eyes, which she _knew_ he'd use if she didn't accept it, was too great to risk encountering if she could avoid it. "Since you _have_ gone to all this trouble...let's put it in the window by the door, and go to bed."  
_Time to plot ways to wipe that smile off of his face..._

Jillas and Grabos stopped in front of the house and put their bags down. They had met up just outside of town, and had walked in companionable silence to Filia's home. They always spent the first night back home at Filia's house, both to make sure Filia knew they had returned and so they could get her to let them into the shop since they invariably had lost their own keys.  
Of course, this meant that they also had lost their keys to Filia's house, since they kept them on the same key ring. To get her to let them in, they had taken to having Jillas toss pebbles at the window; Grabos threw them too hard, and neither had mastered the fine art of knocking on doors at night. However, after going through a pawful of gravel with no response, they got worried.  
In silent coordination that would have surprised nearly everybody who knew them, they tried the door. Upon discovering that it was unlocked, the quietly slipped inside, worried. 

Filia sighed, happy to have succeeded. Success, and the means she had used, felt _good_. Xelloss didn't seem to mind losing, either, since he had wrapped his arms around her afterwards, and was now gently nibbling on her ear.  
"Xelloss, are you trying to convince me to give you a repeat performance?" she murmured, any reluctance in her words and tone contradicted by her expression.  
He chuckled, surprising Filia. "That, Filia-chan, is a secret." _One that you should have no trouble guessing, too_, he added mentally.  
Filia grinned. "I'll take _that_ as a yes..." and moved to kiss him.  
In a display of fantastic bad timing, Jillas flung open the bedroom door. There was a short moment where everybody was still and silent and time seemed to have stopped. Then it resumed its flow just as abruptly as it had halted.  
"Oneesan!" There was the distinct click of pistols being cocked as Jillas prepared to protect Filia from Xelloss, even though that wasn't necessary at all. It became even less necessary as Xelloss abruptly teleported away.  
Jillas lowered his guns in relief, not really wanting to have to fight Xelloss, and dashed to Filia's side. "Are you alright, oneesan? How much did he manage to do to you?" he asked, misunderstanding her shock at Xelloss's sudden disappearance if he noticed it at all. 

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I don't have much in the way of notes this time. Starting from the top, here's this chapter's notes.  
Xelloss, it seems, has a tendancy to do and say things that make Filia want to hurt him. I'm not sure why. Maybe he can't quite bring himself to stop annoying her, no matter what his feelings are towards her.  
The bit about draconian mating habits is inspired almost purely from animal mating habits. (The rest of the inspiration was a desire to give poor Xelloss _some_ way to hang on when they're having passionate sex.) Xelloss didn't know about it because (accurate) information about courtship and mating rituals among the Golden dragons is passed down purely by word of mouth. Manuals are considered cheating when it comes to courtship rituals, and are simply unthinkable when it comes to the mating rituals unique to their own people. (Other races' sex manuals, though, are discreetly but freely used among some clans.)  
I have no idea where the lamp came from, but I liked it so I used it.  
Jillas and Grabos found Filia's door unlocked because, when he brought in the morning's delivery of milk, Xelloss didn't bother locking the door. Xelloss felt that anything that might attack that he couldn't take care of wouldn't be something put off by a mere locked door. He's quite right.  
'_Oneesan_' is Japanese for 'elder sister.' It is what, in the Japanese version, Jillas calls Filia instead of 'boss' (like he does in the English dub).  
I don't know where Grabos was when Jillas checked Filia's bedroom. I have a sneaking suspicion that he was raiding the kitchen, but I don't know why. All I know is that he wasn't with Jillas then. 

Reviews would be liked a lot, particularly if you give me dark chocolate with them. That will encourage me to continue working on this story as quickly as I've been doing so far. 


	15. Tears

I'm going to make quick replies to the reviews, partially because answering a few of the things mentioned would be spoilers. Aside from that, I'm glad to have 50 reviews, though you didn't have to take me _quite_ so literally. Let's try for 100!  
Saki, thank you for your confidence in me and the dark chocolate. I think you're right that stopping teasing Filia would go against Xelloss's personality...  
Badgerwolf, I hope this chapter answers your question.  
Kioku, I missed you! I'm glad you found the last chapter funny. I didn't want to say that Filia was kinky, partially because that's somewhat overdone and besides that it would be a bit of a mundane kink to have.  
Lauren-sama, thanks for the chocolate! I still haven't gotten the one treat I asked for this Easter... I'm glad you found the end of the last chapter funny. I had to include Jillas and Grabos, and they kinda insisted on arriving just then.  
Rambling Coffee Addict, thank you for the liberated dark chocolate. I hope this counts as soon enough for you... (By the way, this seems a bit out of your usual haunts. If you don't mind my curiosity, how did you find me?) 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. The original version of _You and Your Sister_ was performed by Chris Bell, and is copyright C. Bell & Copyright Control. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**14** +===+ **Tears**

_Friends fail every day  
I want to hear you say  
Your love won't be leaving  
Your eyes aren't deceiving_  
-- You and Your Sister

Filia sat in her bed, stunned. Her two beastmen servants, sounding distant and muted as they fussed over her, trying to find out exactly what happened and if they'd arrived in time to save her. She couldn't quite bring herself to believe what had just happened.  
Xelloss _couldn't_ have just _left_, he hadn't _just_ teleported out of their bed during all the time they'd been together. (Had it really been only six nights? It seemed like an eternity...) Was he just done with her, now that Jillas and Grabos had returned...?  
It might be argued that Filia was being much too sensitive about things. However, the current state of her life should be considered. She has not been sleeping well for quite a while, and has become very involved with a mazoku over the course of the week. This person has just up and left suddenly after they were caught in bed together by _Jillas_, of all people. The only thing that could be said to have been good about all of this is that he didn't come in earlier.  
Filia having a little nervous breakdown is quite understandable. 

"Zelas, does your priest normally sit around with your wolves while looking like a naked human?"  
"This is the first time I've seen him doing that. I guess that the subject of his current mission kicked him out of bed again," Zelas told Dynast, looking worriedly at Xelloss. "However, normally he would have reacted to our presence by now. Something more must have happened..."  
Dynast nodded, knowing what that meant. "Shall I do the honors?"  
Zelas smiled. "I give thee permission," she said in formal tones before returning to more normal ones. "It'd be better that _you_ did it, anyway, since he'd be more comfortable that way than if _I_ was the one."  
One side of Dynast's mouth tipped up in a half-smile at Zelas's comment. He then administered a swift kick to Xelloss's rear. "Xelloss, _get **dressed**_!"  
Xelloss righted himself slowly after having been sent sprawling by Dynast's kick. His form flickered slightly, as clothes appeared on him. He blushed. "I'm sorry, Dynast-sama, Zelas-sama."  
"Apology accepted," Zelas said. "Just never do _that_ again. Now, Xelloss, you really should make a report. Do not worry about Dynast's presence. He and I have decided that...our goals coincide to the extent that we should work together, particularly since not all of Garv's and Phibrizo's followers have yet to claim new masters _and_ Dolphin's returned to her old dangerous hobby."  
Xelloss nodded, not quite understanding what this meant for him except that he was to trust Dynast, or at least trust him more than he had before now. Still, that did provide him with a more comfortable explanation for Zelas's and Dynast's current friendliness. "As thou command, Zelas-sama," he said formally before starting his report. 

Zelas looked thoughtfully at her priest after he finished. "Really, I ought to punish you for what you've done. The least of it is that you _should_ have reported this to me much sooner. You should _not_ have spent the rest of the day with her, but instead have reported to me as soon as politely possible.  
"While that kind of slip is normally permissible, Xelloss, having left her so suddenly in that kind of situation was completely irresponsible of you. You should always remember that, unless absolutely necessary, you should not risk what might be a useful relationship.  
"We _**need**_ Filia to trust you. If her dreams are what they seem to be, she may be our only way to find the missing Eye. We can not afford to loose such a valuable object forever simply because _you_ didn't like a sudden change in your situation.  
"Therefore... You are to go back to her. You _will_ apologize _properly_. For your punishment, you are to let her do anything she wants to you as long as it helps her accept your apology and you will survive it."  
Xelloss nodded and teleported away, not saying a word.  
Zelas relaxed. "Dynast, do you think I was too harsh?"  
"No, I don't think you were, considering how stupid he had acted. I think letting his dragon punish him for it is a nice touch, actually."  
She laughed. "Yes, isn't it? They can be so much more creative than we are, and if she's as violent as she almost always seems to be in his reports he's not going to make _that_ mistake again!" 

By the time the moon started setting, Filia had recovered enough to order Jillas and Grabos to leave the room and then buried herself under her covers. She knew that the beastmen were still worried about her, and would be guarding her door, but at least she could have some privacy.  
She wasn't quite sure that privacy was what she wanted, though. Her new bed felt much too big and cold without Xelloss.  
She rolled over, trying to get comfortable, and suddenly an arm was draped over her waist and she could feel a warm (but not living) body against her back. "Filia-san? I'm sorry I left so suddenly. I should have stayed. Is there anything I can do to make up for my mistake?"  
A small evil grin slowly formed on Filia's face, one which would have worried Xelloss if he could have seen it. _Okaasan always said, 'Never pass up an opportunity to punish a man for being rude to a lady.'_ Xelloss quickly found himself pinned underneath a _grinning_ dragon lady, who seemed to be quite amused by his obvious surprise. "I can certainly think of a few things..." The only thing lacking was an evil laugh. 

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Quick notes..  
I have no idea what Zelas and Dynast are plotting. I can tell you that Dolphin's 'old dangerous hobby' seems to have something to do with increasing the levels of paranoia and xenophobia in rather fertile ground for such things, though.  
_Okaasan_ is Japanese for 'mother.' (I may have misspelled it. It's rather late, or early depending on how you look at things...) 

Reviews and dark chocolate are welcomed and found encouraging, particularly when they come together. 


	16. Fond Affections

Wow. A lot of reviews. Here's my replies:  
Rambling Coffee Addict, you're right... Anyway, I'm really sorry about this update not being sooner; I've been delayed by work on a couple other 'fics, in particular one which I need to have done around the same time as this one. (I'll give details on that soon.)  
Saki, given everything up 'till now, it would be rather strange if Filia didn't.  
Kioku, _no comment_.  
Lauren-sama, thanks for the eulogy for Xelloss. I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter! It's particularly nice to know that somebody likes how I'm characterizing Zelas and Dynast, since I have given up all hope of controlling them.  
EvilCacklinHippyOverlord, you've got a really long name. Actually, Filia's door does have a lock, but she isn't used to having a reason to actually use it.  
Drake Dragon, I hope you like this chapter as much as you've enjoyed the 'fic so far!  
Mistress DragonFlame, to answer your question: 'Dark chocolate,' also known as 'bittersweet chocolate,' is known as dark chocolate because it's darker than milk chocolate. It generally has a richer flavor than milk chocolate, though a good milk chocolate can be just as rich as dark chocolate. 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. _The Jeweller_ is copyright T. Rapp & Copyright Control & was originally performed by Pearls Before Swine. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**15** +===+ **Fond Affections**

_He knows the use of ashes  
He worships God with ashes_  
-- The Jeweller

Filia slept peacefully, curled up with Xelloss in their bed. The sheets were disordered, wrapped around them for warmth. It was, Xelloss realized, something he found comfortable.  
That was a disturbing thought for him. As a mazoku, he shouldn't find something so, well, _peaceful_ enjoyable. It was supposed to be boring at best. He was certain that he shouldn't be wishing that things could stay that way forever.  
Things always got so much more complicated as the years passed. Originally, life had been simple and good. The whole slaughter-and-burn method of combat didn't really require much in the way of complex thought. You killed everybody who wasn't on your side, and you burned what could be burned because, hey, burning things was fun.  
Of course, it didn't remain anywhere near that simple for him for long. He quickly realized that things would be so much easier if he encouraged his victims to gather into one place, and being an essentially lazy mazoku he quickly started doing just that. But just as quickly as he came up with a technique that seemed pretty reliable, either Zelas-sama sent him up against an entirely new group or his prey realized what he was doing. Either way, he had to switch tactics.  
After so many years, without him quite noticing it, life had become complex, and his own complexity had increased constantly to match it. It had its good points; life was certainly more interesting and amusing now. On the other hand, it had also landed him _here_.  
Maybe things wouldn't get any _more_ complex. It would be nice, really, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out what it would take for things to become any more complicated. 

It is perhaps not surprising that, when Filia finally woke up, she informed Xelloss that he was _not_ done making up for his previous mistake yet, she just had gotten tired. Xelloss wasn't sure later why he had slipped up and not only said something about insatiable dragonesses aloud but said it loud enough for it to be clearly audible to Filia. It was a dire mistake, since the resulting racket drew the attention of Jillas and Grabos.  
There was no possible way for either of the beastmen to misunderstand what was going on. Filia was on top of him, and it was obvious that if he had been nearly anybody or anything else she'd have him pinned down to the bed. It would be very hard to think that Filia wasn't a willing participant.  
Xelloss managed to smother a comment about Filia not seeming to mind the audience enough to do more than stop moving. He _did_ mind it, and besides that he doubted that it was a good time to risk getting her angry. Instead, he just prayed that they'd leave, soon.  
Much to Xelloss's surprise, his prayers were answered.  
Filia took that as her cue to go back to what she'd been doing. 

Eventually, Filia was satisfied, or perhaps merely hungry enough to take a break for breakfast. Xelloss wasn't sure which, and did not want to ask. He didn't think asking her would be a wise idea. In fact, he was feeling unusually eager to not upset Filia. He was certain that Zelas-sama had intended the previous night's penance as a warning to not risk this mission by alienating Filia.  
Jillas and Grabos were waiting for them in the kitchen with what could charitably be called a breakfast. Neither seemed to be a particularly good cook; there was a distinct smell of smoke, and on the plates was a collection of various bits of charcoal. Xelloss poked cautiously at the charcoal, then cautiously sniffed the substance in a glass that accompanied the charcoal before deciding to follow Filia's lead and pretend that neither the plate or glass were there.  
"Onee-san, what's going on between you and him?" From Jillas's and Grabos's nervousness, Xelloss suspected that this was not the first time that either of them had asked Filia about her love life, or at least had asked her personal questions. Filia seemed rather nervous herself, though, and he decided that it would be a good idea to answer for her.  
"Filia-san has been having some very bad dreams, and I have been doing what I can to comfort her. I don't like it when she's not feeling up to being angry at me." Xelloss hoped they'd accept that. He didn't want to have to admit to not having always been a willing participant, nor did he want to have to fully admit aloud what his feelings were for Filia. Both would be, at best, embarrassing.  
They did accept it, though begrudgingly, and Filia calmed down since she no longer had to explain why she was having sex with Xelloss. Bad dreams, even of the prophetic kind, were much easier to talk about, and she did need to tell them something.  
"I've been having prophetic dreams," Filia stated, watching the beastmen's reactions carefully. "I will soon be leaving here, _and_," she continued, raising her voice to be heard over the surprised reactions of Jillas and Grabos (Xelloss's surprise being silent, but still clear), "I want you two to stay here to mind the store and take care of Val's egg.  
"I suspect that Xelloss will be getting ordered to go with me." Xelloss nodded, calm mask back in place from the knowledge of exactly what this trip was about. "The only way I'm going to stop having prophetic nightmares is if I do something to prevent them from coming completely true."  
The two beastmen went from being doubtful that she should leave, particularly when such as Xelloss was showing unusual attraction to her, to open encouragement that she go on such a noble quest. Xelloss wasn't sure if he should be amused or embarrassed by that. 

As soon as they had convinced Grabos and Jillas that it was perfectly safe to leave them alone together and that they should go settle in again at their homes, Xelloss and Filia quickly disposed of the 'breakfast' the two beastmen had cooked. Not even needing to talk to each other, they started making an edible breakfast with Xelloss making the tea and setting the places and Filia taking charge of the cooking.  
They saved conversation for when they finally sat down to eat. "Xelloss-san, you're familiar with where we're going. How do you suggest we get there?"  
Xelloss smiled. "Now, now, Filia-san. Nobody but Hellmaster Phibrizo, his most trusted servants, and his pets could be said to be familiar with that wasteland." He took a bite of the bacon and chewed on it, enjoying the flavor. "It's too close to winter for us to take a ship to the beach I always entered them through when I had to go on foot. The weather's completely against that."  
Filia speared a piece of bacon with her fork. "Is there some route you'd suggest as an alternative, Xelloss-san?"  
"Yes, there is, though I've never taken it myself. We could take a ship to the first port below the bad lands, and then go north through the desert. It'd be a bit round-about, but I know that quite a few humans and dragons have survived that route." Xelloss glanced down at his plate, and realized that he had already finished the bacon. Slightly puzzled, he started on the egg.  
"I see. Is there any particular reason we shouldn't fly there, or teleport?" Filia said, snatching the salt shaker while Xelloss was busy with the pepper grinder.  
"That kind of behavior would attract the attention of the various things Hellmaster-sama created or co-opted to guard the borders of his headquarters," he replied. "While we will _probably_ be the most powerful beings there as long as we work together, it still would be advisable that we avoid fighting with them whenever possible." He gave Filia the pepper in return for the salt. "I doubt you would like to turn this into a test of endurance."  
Filia viciously cut her egg into manageable pieces. "You have a point. When do you suggest we leave, then?"  
Xelloss looked thoughtfully at his plate. There was less egg left than he thought there should be. "How about a week? I should be able to have our sea-passage arranged for by then, and that will also give whomever I choose to prepare the mundane equipment for the trip in the desert time to get things arranged. We should do our best to seem to be humans, or at least something very closely related to humans."  
Filia nodded, accepting Xelloss taking charge of making the arrangements for their journey. "That should give me time to make sure that my shop will still be here when we return."  
"That reminds me. We should give your neighbors some excuse for why we're going on a journey together. They're not going to think too highly of you seeming to just run off with a strange man."  
Filia smiled mischiviously. "Why don't we tell them that we were betrothed by our parents as small children and it's finally become time for us to hold our wedding?"  
"Yes, that should work perfectly, particularly if we tell them that the traditions of our homeland demand that we must travel to the town where the head of the groom's family resides for the ceremony."  
Xelloss paused. "You are aware that we'll have to pretend to be married once we return?" Filia's smile became downright predatory, answering Xelloss's question and surprising him yet again. 

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There would be notes, except I think it's rather obvious what got into Filia, and it'd be hard to resist making more of those kinds of jokes if this was any longer than it is already.  
Reviews of any kind are welcomed, and dark chocolate is really liked and will encourage my muse and me to work harder on getting the next chapter of this fic out soon. 


	17. Morning Glory

Thanks, Kioku, for the dark chocolate and the complements. I'm glad the logic works.  
Saki, I'm glad you like the humor in that passage. I refuse to confirm or deny anything about a wedding.  
Drake Dragon, I'm glad you're still enjoying this story. I hope the wait hasn't been too long for you.  
Rambling Coffee Addict, thanks for the dark chocolate. To start with, while mazoku, like Xelloss, feed off of (negative) emotions, they also are capable of eating normally. In NEXT and TRY he repeatedly eats and drinks. As for why he ate Filia's cooking, he says (basically) that after seeing the 'cooking' of Jillas and Grabos, he felt the need to eat something actually edible, and he also didn't want to hurt Filia's feelings currently and she apparently is offended when somebody refuses her cooking.  
Lady Padme Naberrie, thank you for reviewing. To answer your questions: yes, and read on.  
Thank you for the dark chocolate, Lauren-sama! It wasn't that big a problem, but I was worried... I did start this, at least, as a kind of protest of those stories you describe as 'Xelloss is a sadistic dark mazoku and tortures the innocent Filia' stories. Aside from being overused rather quickly, it's generally written badly; Filia's not all that innocent, for one. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint... 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. The original version of _I Want to Live_ was recorded by Gary Ogan & Bill Lamb, and the song is copyright G. Ogan & Solo Copyright Bureau. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**16** +===+ **Morning Glory**

_But you've got a way of understanding me  
And I just call it one of your mysteries  
But you know that you've got to stay close to me, close to me_  
-- I Want to Live 

Xelloss watched Zelas use a tool he couldn't quite identify on a section of matted fur on the wolf in her lap. He knew that, while she had seemed intent on her mysterious task, she had been paying attention to his report. He also know that she'd take her time telling him if he had been correct in presuming that he would be ordered to accompany Filia on her quest.  
Suddenly, the matted fur was no longer matted, and the tool was put to the side. "Xelloss-chan, I must be getting too predictable. You guessed what my orders would be perfectly."  
A feeling of dread washed over Xelloss. If there was one thing Zelas did _not_ like, it was when _anybody_ managed to predict her completely. It did make life easier; Deep Sea Dolphin was notorious for insisting her servants predict her every whim, which had a lot to do with her relative uninvolvement with events outside of her own small domain.  
Xelloss was personally familiar with that, after Zelas had sent him for a short time to Dolphin to represent her. Dolphin was creative in both her whims, which even upon the rare occurrence when they could be predicted were impossible, and her ways of expressing her displeasure. It had been quite a learning experience, and he never again asked Zelas why she didn't like Dolphin.  
Zelas was just as creative, though at least she didn't use pain so freely and was quite careful about leaving him intact. "You know, if you're going to claim that you're leaving to get married, you really _should_. It might be nice to have her living here, permanently."  
Xelloss laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "We're only going to be saying that we're leaving for our wedding, and nothing about actually getting married. It would be awkward to be married to her, and I don't really want to have to kill her if something were to happen and I had to leave her."  
Zelas grinned, and Xelloss wondered if he hadn't somehow dug himself deeper. "You are right about that. You had said you'd rather write an essay on morning glories than be married to her...  
"But just because you tell me that you're not getting married to her doesn't get you _out_ of writing that essay. I want it before you leave on this trip with her. I don't care how long it is, as long as it's at least a page long without padding."  
"But Mother, you know I wouldn't lie to you!" Xelloss protested.  
"Of course you wouldn't, Xelloss-chan! Write the essay. I _know_ you like morning glories, you grow them in your garden along with all those poisonous herbs you keep using in your cooking."  
Xelloss sighed in resignation and bowed. "As you command, Zelas-sama." 

Xelloss looked through the surprisingly extensive section of books on botany in his private library. Most of them were books on poisonous plants, though he had a few herbals in there; mazoku had to use means other than magic when they had need to heal somebody other than a fellow mazoku. He had also stored somewhere among the books a volume of a certain strange man's Clair Bible manuscripts. None of his had contained anything particularly useful, not even one which contained instructions for a unique spell with which a person could call upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares to arrange for a personal (and only a personal) return to chaos.  
This particular volume was about morning glories, all several thousand pages of it. Of course, most of it was drugged rambling which tended to repeat itself for pages on end. Xelloss wasn't sure what the man had been taking, except it apparently had been pretty good.  
Several hours of skimming and a few paragraphs of writing later, Xelloss discovered that it had apparently been an obscure variety of morning glory that was used by a certain group of heretics which the author had been a member of in an attempt to have prophetic visions. He quickly wrote several paragraphs on this discovery, being careful to cautiously note the possibilities implied by the fact that it worked on the draconian members of the sect.  
Xelloss suspected that hallucinating dragons could be _really_ fun, particularly if this manuscript was any good indicator of how they'd behave. Of course, he'd not try it with Filia, no matter how tempting he might find that idea. She was one dragon he wanted fully in control of herself.  
That was the most interesting part of what he read while filling the page. Xelloss did not care to read more than he had to of the particular set of manuscripts at any given time. Reading it tended to cause the mazoku equivalent of slight headaches with a chance of voices.  
After carefully shelving the volume, he copied his original paper over on the basis that Zelas might just decide to make him write it again and longer if he didn't make sure she could read this one. When he was done he blotted the ink and carefully stacked the papers. He hoped four pages (with illustrations) would satisfy her. 

Xelloss sat patiently while Zelas read his work for what felt like the hundredth time. He wasn't sure if she was simply very interested in it, or was trying to decide which section to order him to expand. He hoped it was the former.  
Finally, Zelas put the pages down. "This is satisfactory. Come back intact, since I would like to find out how well your idea would work."  
"Thank you, Mother," he said, and stood so he could bow to her. "I'll try my best." He then paused, needing to ask something before he left. "Um, do you _want_ me to get married to her?"  
Zelas smirked. "If you want to, go ahead. I don't care." 

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I know, the whole theme of Xelloss's essay on morning glories is somewhat common, but it felt right for this chapter... They're really a quite pretty group of species, and very interesting. Oh, and for the record, one species of Morning Glory really does have hallucinogenic properties. The natives of the area in which it normally grows used it in their religious rituals. 

Reviews and dark chocolate will encourage me to work harder on this story, and be welcomed! 


	18. With Tomorrow

Mistress DragonFlame, it helped that you reviewed while I was making the final edits to the next chapter, which is why I'm replying to both reviews here. I am curious as to what else you think I could have meant by 'dark chocolate,' though I'm not sure I want to know either. Either way, thanks for the chocolate!  
Saki, Xelloss says, "Actually, I just want to find out as soon as possible should Zelas decide that I should marry Filia. It'd be a bit hard to get a ring that'll _fit_ her in both forms." Make of that what you will. Meanwhile, I'm glad you found the chapter cute.  
Kikou, sorry, but you weren't the first to review the last chapter. Anyway, I'd had conflicting information for years about the possible hallucinogenic properties of morning glories for a while. Then, over a year ago now, I managed to get a plant catalogue that not only gave details but also listed for sale the particular species... Someday, I may try growing them myself, though life's interesting enough without hallucinations so I won't try to verify it personally. I do have to agree re: uninhibited Fi, and I'm happy that the implications of a wedding amused you. Thank you very much for the dark chocolate!  
Monkeys, my thanks to your mistress for the large amounts of dark chocolate and for the great complement. I work hard to maintain even, high quality in my writing and it's always nice when somebody notices.  
Lauren-sama, it might. It was intended as a transition piece (and Zelas wanted more 'screen time'), though to me at least the only new thing I added when it came to the notes on hallucinogenic properties is being more particular than those who have mentioned them before. BTW, from what I understand the job of 'shrine maiden' or _miko_ does actually require being virgin, or at least not having sex while serving as one. However, Filia's no longer a shrine maiden / priestess / _miko_ (depending on how you like your translation), so she's no longer actually bound to continue to meet the job's requirements. (I may be off; my primary reference on _miko_ was translated from Japanese by Japanese-speakers and is thus sometimes not as clear as one might wish.) 

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.  
All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. _With Tomorrow_ is copyright Clark / Davis & Rondor Music (London) Ltd. and the original version was recorded by Gene Clark. 

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**Mr Somewhere**  
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi  
**17** +===+ **With Tomorrow**

_So with tomorrow, I will borrow  
Another moment of joy and sorrow  
And another dream, and another  
With tomorrow_  
-- With Tomorrow

Xelloss busied himself in Filia's kitchen, making tea. He knew that Filia would be woken up by the smells of the tea and the selection of pastries he had picked up from the best bakery in the port where he'd booked passage. He had every intention of convincing Filia to stop at the particular bakery before they left that city.  
Filia padded in softly, only wearing a nightgown. "Welcome back, Xelloss."  
He grinned. "Did you miss me?" He knew the answer already, but he asked anyway.  
Xelloss wasn't expecting to be kissed, but didn't mind the surprise at all. "The box smells good. What's in it?"  
"Oh, just a selection of pastries I picked up at Suthaven. It's a nice port city, only a couple days hard travel from here and just below the southernmost border of the Desert of Destruction. Our ship leaves from there in five days, so we should have no trouble getting there if we set out tomorrow at dawn."  
Filia made an appreciative noise as she ate a doughnut from the box. "That's good. I've already made our excuses, so all we have to do now is check my packing...and get reacquainted."  
"Yes, and we _should_ go to bed early. You should be well-rested tomorrow morning..."  
Filia laughed. "I suppose there's no chance that we can save some of these for breakfast tomorrow? They're good."  
"Oh, I can easily fetch a few more in the morning. They make wonderful cheesecakes, too. If you're willing, we could visit the bakery while we're in Suthaven."  
"That sounds _wonderful_." 

Xelloss mechanically smoothed Filia's hair, not quite connected mentally to reality but beyond caring. Since mazoku couldn't become intoxicated with alcohol, though they certainly could enjoy its flavor, he used to have only a vague idea why anybody would want to be drunk. It seemed an embarrassing and generally uncomfortable condition, and the hangovers it produced were quite definitely delightful for any nearby mazoku.  
He understood why they got drunk _now_. It made a lot of sense. It felt amazingly good.  
It might even be worth a possible hangover in the morning. 

Xelloss moaned, not at _all_ happy about getting to experience a hangover personally. Mazoku only rarely fed off their own negative emotions, as it had the nasty side effect of damaging their forms and unless it was a choice between that and complete destruction it was something to avoid doing at all costs. The only use _he_ could ever have for a hangover all his own would be if he had to nurse an underling, and that was something he had no plans to ever have any need of doing, ever.  
He was not going to willingly let Filia ever get so horny again.  
Xelloss had covered up his hangover expertly, though. _Now_, he thought to himself, _if only Filia would stop being so damn **cheerful**..._  
He paused, suddenly, feeling several people arrive outside, probably to wish them luck on their trip. Well, some were. He could taste the lovely, saccerine-sweet flavor of latent hostility and wonderful limy taste of not-so-latent jealousy among a significant number of them. He grinned, feeling better already.  
It was so nice to know that other men had been interested in _his_ Filia.  
He quickly went out to join Filia. "Dear, we need to be leaving now if we want to be certain of sleeping in a bed tonight," he announced loudly. His hangover was unable to outlast the resultant wave of jealousy, and he was left with only a faint craving for key lime pie.  
Filia smiled at him, completely oblivious to the existence of jealous would-be suitors. "Just a moment, Xelloss!" She quickly thanked the well-wishers, and soon they were walking away from the town.  
After the last houses were a mile behind them, Filia stopped. "Is there anybody close enough to us to see me transform, Xelloss?"  
"None who would notice it, at least. It is a shame you've never visited Suthaven, but that can't be helped. It _was_ a minor port until a few years ago."  
"Thank you," she said, ignoring his commentary. Soon, she was airborne and they were on their way again, this time moving much faster, though not without a few problems.  
"Xelloss, stop riding on my back!" 

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I've no idea if there's any canon basis for mazoku being able to feed other mazoku, but it could be quite useful sometimes. Its main use here would be keeping an underling (and, probably quite rarely, superiors) from starving when they're too weak to go out among possibly hostile food sources. 

This is the last chapter of Mr Somewhere. The story will be continued in Shikar, which I will be starting in two weeks. Thank you, everybody, who has read Mr Somewhere, and particularly those who have reviewed! I'm quite grateful for it!  
Reviews for this chapter will be answered in the opening AN of Shikar, so don't be afraid to review. Meanwhile, I highly recommend that you read Idylls while waiting for me to get Shikar started. 


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